This article was updated on Thursday, February 20th, to reflect the Senate vote results
In a session marked by a lengthy debate on the crypto scandal engulfing the administration, President Javier Milei’s government clinched a legislative victory as the Senate suspended the country’s 2025 primary elections on Thursday. The bill, presented by the ruling party La Libertad Avanza, passed with 43 votes in favor, 20 against, and six abstentions.
“The [primaries] were used by political parties as a big national poll paid for by all citizens, a luxury that Argentina cannot afford,” said a communiqué by the Argentine Presidential Office on Thursday evening.
The Senate is likely headed to suspend the Argentine 2025 primary elections known as PASO in a session that began on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Most lawmakers from the so-called “friendly opposition” are expected to back the government’s proposal after it passed in the Lower House.
Ruling La Libertad Avanza (LLA)’s senators had originally intended to carry out another session on Friday to include the executive’s bid for Ariel Lijo to be appointed as Supreme Court judge. However, they decided to drop the issue after failing to gather support.
The Lower House had approved the suspension of the PASO elections on February 6, in the first of the extraordinary sessions in Congress, scheduled to end on Friday.
The Senate will also address three government-endorsed bills related to crime that were already passed by deputies: an “anti-mafia” bill to fight organized crime, the implementation of trials in absentia for serious offenses, and a change in the Criminal Code to punish recidivism harder. These bills also have the support from most of the opposition.
The PASO suspension needs a majority of at least 37 votes to pass. Given that it is a modification of the electoral rules, half of the votes plus one are required.
LLA has one of the smallest blocs in the Senate, with just 6 lawmakers. However, it is allied with PRO (7 senators) and has had backing from Unión Cívica Radical (UCR, 13) for most of its proposals, along with some small provincial blocs. A source close to Córdoba senator Alejandra Vigo, from the Unidad Federal bloc, confirmed she will back the PASO suspension.
A source from UCR confirmed to the Herald that “almost all” of its senators will back the PASO suspension except for Pablo Blanco and Carolina Losada, while the entire bloc will vote for the crime-related proposals. The source added that it’s unclear whether senators will seek to further debate the potential elimination of the PASO throughout the year for future electoral periods. “The most important thing is to suspend them for 2025, we’ll see what comes after that.”
But the PASO suspension could also be backed by part of Peronist Unión por la Patria (UxP), the most numerous opposition bloc in Congress that is not part of the friendly opposition. In the Lower House, 25 of its 98 deputies voted to suspend the primaries, while 28 abstained and 43 voted against. Something similar could happen in the Senate.
