Argentine Congress meets 'virtually' for first time
In a historic session, Argentina's Congress met 'virtually' for the first time on Wednesday, as floor sessions restarted for the first time since the country entered a mandatory nationwide lockdown on March 20.
The Senate, led by Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, began an online plenary session at 2pm local time on Wednesday, with many members joining the session online.
Argentina's lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, followed suit a few hours later under a similar format led by Speaker Sergio Massa.
Giant screen mounted inside the Senate and House allowed members to connect remotely, who later cast votes in electronic form after validating their identities. All but five House members (out of 257) and one senator (out of 72) participated.
Topping the agenda was a debate on 20 decrees signed by President Alberto Fernández since March. Most of these decrees dealt with the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic - which the Economy Minsitry estimates will shave 6.5% off GDP this year, after two years of deep recession.
Both houses unanimously approved 18 of the 20 decrees - with the right-wing "Together for Change" coalition objecting only to the March 12 international travel ban and an April 1 decree suspending layoffs.
Democratic odyssey
The opposition had earlier sought to block the holding of virtual sessions, with some lawmakers staging an "odyssey for democracy" on April 28 from as far as 1,300 mi away in an attempt to show virtual sessions were unnecessary.
House Majority Leader Máximo Kirchner noted, however, that when the "Change" coalition was in power under former President Mauricio Macri (2015-19), "caucus leaders were never convened (to vote on decrees) - not even on the $44 billion loan taken out from the IMF."
"Perhaps institutions were less important then."
Congress will continue along these lines while social distancing rules remain in force. The federal stay-home measure was extended until May 24 - but with a significant lifting of restrictions, with 75% of workers being allowed to return to their jobs in most of the country.
Restrictions on 50% remain in place for the City and Province of Buenos Aires, which together account for 70% of the 7,100 Covid cases registered thus far.
At: https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/historic-session-as-congress-meets-virtually-for-first-time.phtml
Argentine House Speaker Sergio Massa presides over the opening of Wednesday's virtual floor session - the first in Argentine history.
The country's right-wing opposition had earlier demanded that floor sessions be held following a federal stay-home order on March 20 - then demanded they not be held, even threatening to have any bills approved in virtual session declared "unconstitutional."
Argentina's Supreme Court ratified the validity of virtual congressional sessions on April 24.
