Milei Deregulation Decree Survives Quorum Test

Only 121 deputies took their seats in Argentina’s lower house on Thursday, October 15, eight short of the 129 needed to open a special session on overturning President Javier Milei’s DNU 70/23. The opposition failed to reach quorum, so the decree remains in force. The government welcomed the outcome. It has used the measure to advance a broad programme of economic reforms, while a large demonstration took place outside Congress.

The absences decided the session. Deputies from the centrist Provincias Unidas caucus, led by Santa Fe representative Gisela Scaglia, stayed away, along with lawmakers from Tucumán’s Independencia caucus and representatives from Misiones. Two other inland deputies arrived only after Lower House Speaker Martín Menem declared the session had fallen through.

Those who did attend included members of Unión por la Patria, the main Peronist opposition caucus, and the left-wing Frente de Izquierda. A dozen deputies from Provincias Unidas also took their seats, alongside representatives from Argentina Federal, Elijo Catamarca and the Coalición Cívica.

The Decree and the Land Law

DNU 70/23 repealed the Regime for the Protection of National Ownership of Rural Land, a 2011 law that limits foreign ownership of rural property. Milei’s government targeted the law soon after taking office as part of its deregulation drive, then repealed it through the decree in late 2023. Now the government seeks to restore the land law.

The government’s reversal over the “Ley de Tierras” was one of three factors cited in the report on the failed session. Another was a Supreme Court ruling upholding the norm that limits the sale of land to foreigners. The ruling reversed an earlier decision that had rejected the legitimacy of a lawsuit presented by Malvinas war veterans.

A third factor was confirmation of another session for October 21 to debate measures on disability and household debt. The report said that scheduled debate gave moderate opposition lawmakers an incentive to hold back. Thursday’s proposed agenda also included an emergency bill for disabled people and a bill to ease household debt.

What the Decree Covers

The government feared the opposition could unite to overturn DNU 70/23 in full. Such a move would also repeal laws covering rent, the “open skies” aviation programme and the removal of price controls through the elimination of anti-hoarding legislation.

The decree reaches beyond rural land ownership. Its provisions address rent regulation, aviation and price controls, while Congress’s scheduled agenda included relief measures for disabled people and households carrying debt. The government has used the decree to advance its economic reform programme. The failed session left those provisions in place.

Peronist caucus chief Germán Martínez (Unión por la Patria-Santa Fe) said: “This government and those who did not give quorum do not feel for the Argentine people. It is our responsibility to give them the political representation they deserve at this time and the hope for the future that they need.”

Pablo Juliano (Radical-Buenos Aires Province) accused the government of “tying itself up in knots to avoid quorum.” He said deputies who stayed away had given no thought to indebted people and disabled people. The October 21 session leaves those measures for a later debate, while DNU 70/23 remains operative.