The controversial media figure who today occupies a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, Virginia Gallardo, once again made headlines by harshly describing—and with her stamp of unfiltered sincerity—her first experience in the chamber: “Congress is worse than Dancing.”
In a television interview after assuming her seat for the province of Corrientes, Gallardo recounted in a relaxed but forceful tone what she experienced in her debut as a legislator. She said she entered with a serious and committed attitude, willing to adapt to the solemnity of the oath, but what she found was a climate of chaos: “I scream here, I scream there, things were flying,” she described.
Far from feeling out of place due to her media past, the representative maintained that, ironically, she ended up fitting in better than expected. “I thought she was going to look out of place, but it turned out that she was ‘royal and splendid,’” he joked, underlining his surprise at the maelstrom of the venue.
Gallardo characterized the session as a “party,” a black humor with which she contrasted the television glamor of the program Dancing for a Dream with the lack of control that, according to her, dominated the Legislature. Her phrase resonated: for her, “Congress is worse than Dancing.”
The statement not only reveals his particular perspective as a newcomer to power: it also highlights the contrast between institutional expectations and the reality of parliamentary functioning. With his frontal style, Gallardo exposed a discomfort shared by many new legislators: the confusion, tension and disorder that, in his opinion, end up being less contained than a media dance floor.
It remains to be seen if, beyond the media impact, his complaint – or his anecdote – prompts any serious reflection on the cleanliness of the political debate or if everything will remain as a “strong opening” worthy of TV.
