By María Josefina Arce
 
Javier Milei insists on his controversial Omnibus Law, his major reform package that failed to advance in Congress, in what constituted a hard blow for the ultra-liberal president of Argentina.

Although it had been approved in general by the legislative body, its article-by-article debate generated serious discrepancies in key aspects for the government, such as the privatization of state-owned companies.

In view of this, the government decided to return the law to Commissions, which sought, among other aspects, to delegate to the executive the powers of the Congress.

Now the President announced that they expect to present a new version of the bill, despite the fact that his first proposal generated numerous protests in the South American country and even led Milei to face his first general strike.

The new text, which has been reduced from 664 articles to 269, is already circulating among the governors of the different provinces of Argentina.

One of the disagreements referred to the PAIS tax, Impuesto Para una Argentina Inclusiva y Solidaria, created in 2019 and payable on certain transactions in foreign currency. The governors ask the provinces to manage 30% of the tax.

But this has not been Milei's only setback in the legislative body. Last week he suffered a strong setback, as the Senate rejected the Decree of Necessity and Urgency, which he issued in the first weeks of his term of office, which began last December 10.

This is the first time in history that the Senate has rejected a decree of this nature, which in this case has been qualified by many as unconstitutional.

Already last January, the Argentine courts had declared invalid six articles which are part of the labor reform introduced by the text and which refer to overtime, regulations on the form of payment of salaries and collective bargaining agreements.

The future of the decree is now in the hands of the Chamber of Deputies. However, until a vote is taken, it will remain in force.

In 100 days of government, Milei has suffered several setbacks and already has a negative image of more than 57%. Meanwhile, social tension is growing due to his controversial economic measures and the high inflation prevailing in the South American nation.