Argentina
Bullrich acknowledged that the governing coalition still does not have the votes to eliminate or suspend the PASO
The senator admitted that differences persist among allies in the Senate during the debate over electoral reform. The discussion will continue as the Government seeks to secure support before year-end.
Patricia Bullrich admitted on Tuesday that the governing coalition has still not secured the votes in the Senate needed to move ahead with the elimination or suspension of the PASO, one of the central points of the electoral reform promoted by the Government.
The senator made that assessment after a meeting of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, which resumed consideration of the bill. There, she noted that differences remain among the blocs taking part in the negotiations. “We still do not have the number. In principle there are some issues on which some agree and others do not. On PASO we still do not have the number of votes to eliminate or suspend them,” she said.
According to BAE Negocios, La Libertad Avanza has 21 of its own senators and needs to reach 37 to pass an electoral reform in the chamber, so it depends on adding support from other blocs. The debate, moreover, had been delayed since May because of disagreements with allied sectors.
Bullrich also said that some lawmakers support eliminating the primaries and others do not, and added, according to Clarín, that there are also discussions about public financing and the television slots linked to the electoral system.
In the committee, there were also calls for Ficha Limpia to be dealt with separately from the reform. BAE Negocios reported that the head of the PRO bloc, Martín Goerling Lara, raised that position, while Senator Edith Terenzi questioned the criterion used to determine which bills were left out of the agenda.
According to C5N, the discussion also included other points such as the Single Paper Ballot, changes to party financing and Ficha Limpia. BAE Negocios added that Senator Jorge Capitanich was willing to discuss the initiative, although he asked that his own bills submitted during his term be included.
On the timing of the debate, Bullrich backed the recommendation of the National Electoral Chamber that any change to the rules be approved with sufficient advance notice. The senator said that, if consensus is reached, the reform should be enacted before December.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
