The October elections and the unexpected victory of La Libertad Avanza generated a dangerous effect: Javier Milei had taken that result as a blank check to do whatever he wanted from then on. However, in recent days he found himself with a very precise limit in Congress and on the street. The Budget Law, which in its controversial article 11 sought to de facto repeal the Disability Emergency regulations and university financing, did not pass the test: it was approved in general, although without those cuts in sensitive areas that the Government intended. The social demand outside the legislative palace and the deputies who blocked this attempt by the libertarians joined forces to put a stop to Milei. The message was that zero deficit cannot be achieved at any price. That there is no blank check.
After the setback, ratified by the senators, who also did not include Disability or university financing in their vote, the Government announced that it will reallocate budget items for both areas, an admission of its defeat. It remains to be seen what happens with another tantrum from La Libertad Avanza, that of the labor reform, whose treatment was initially postponed until February, at best. The Casa Rosada wanted to impose it before the end of the year in Congress, but the numbers were complicated. The thing is that the legislators read the surveys, which give a majority rejection of this measure, unlike what those consulted think about the other reforms, the pension and the tax reform.
It is healthy for a democracy that the political power in power registers the limits imposed by Congress and society. Hopefully, in Milei’s case, it is not just an imposture.
