The Chamber of Deputies experienced one of its most explosive sessions of the year when, after midnight, the president of the body, Martín Menem, enabled an agreement that allowed progress with the appointment of the new auditors of the Auditor General of the Nation (AGN). The maneuver, closed outside the premises and executed in a hurry, caused a strong political scandal and opened an internal crack in the ruling party.
The negotiation included Máximo Kirchner, head of the Unión por la Patria bloc, and Germán Martínez, one of the main parliamentary members of Kirchnerism. Both agreed with Menem on the terms to unblock the vacant positions in the AGN, in a negotiation that was finalized during the early hours of the morning and that took the ruling party’s allies by surprise.
The pact allowed progress to be made with the express swearing in of three auditors: Rita Mónica Almada, linked to La Libertad Avanza; Juan Ignacio Forlón, near La Cámpora; and Pamela Calletti, linked to the governor of Salta Gustavo Sáenz. The vote was taken when a good part of the room was already half empty and without the topic having been included in the original agenda of the session.
The decision triggered the relationship between La Libertad Avanza and the PRO, its main parliamentary partner. The head of the Macrista bloc, Cristian Ritondo, accused Menem of breaking political agreements and of having privileged an understanding with Kirchnerism behind the backs of those who supported the ruling party for months in key votes.
From the PRO they questioned not only the content of the agreement, but also the way in which it was executed. Legislators from Macri and other blocs left the premises in protest and anticipated that they will take legal action to challenge the appointment of the auditors, considering that the procedure violated constitutional and regulatory norms.
In the background of the scandal appears the dispute over control of the AGN, a key organization for auditing the Executive Branch. The understanding between Menem and Kirchnerism exposed the fragility of the Government’s legislative alliances and opened a new front of political conflict within Congress, with still unforeseeable consequences for parliamentary governance.
