President Mauricio Macri, who leaves office in six days time, managed to keep only two of the 20 campaign promises he made during the 2015 election, a new report from fact-checking site Chequeado has concluded.
The promises in question come from the Cambiemos leader's declarations during the 2015 presidential debate prior to that year's run-off, in which the former Buenos Aires City mayor defeated Daniel Scioli.
"With this initiative we seek to provide more evidence about how much of what is promised in presidential campaigns is delivered, " said Chequeado's Director Laura Zommer.
Among the most well-known promises delivered by the then-candidate were bringing inflation down to one digit by the end of his term in office and his vow to deliver "zero poverty" in Argentina.
In addition, there were promises such as "build 3,000 kindergartens" for children, which were to be paid for by a long-trailed vow to eliminate the controversial Fútbol para Todos broadcasting scheme, which former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner introduced during her administration to ensure all top-division football in Argentina was free-to-air.
Of the 20 promises logged by Chequeado from the debate, only two were fulfilled, according to the fact-checking site.
Those were promises that the Macri administration would promote a whistleblower's law (in order to tackle corruption) and extend those who qualify for the Asignación Universal por Hijo (AUH) social payment and include the children of freelance/self-employed workers. The government extended the AUH to the children of the monotributistas in its first six months.
However, the fact-checking site did conclude that the Macri administration did make progress on nine of the 18 unfulfilled promises, while failing to achieve the president's stated objective.
Here's a full list of Macri's 20 campaign promises and where the government stands on each, according to Chequeado:
1. Workers will not pay income tax on earnings – Unfulfilled
2. Build 3,000 kindergartens – Unfulfilled
3. Create the 'Plan Primer Empleo' – Unfulfilled
4. Extend the Asignación Universal por Hijo (AUH) social payment and include the children of freelance/self-employed workers – Fulfilled
5. Create work, whilst looking after posts we already have – Unfulfilled
6. Launch the Belgrano Plan, with US$16 billion of investment in infrastructure in the north of Argentina – Unfulfilled, but made progress
7. Confront drug-trafficking – Unfulfilled, but made progress
8. Achieve an Argentina with zero poverty – Unfulfilled
9. Create a national agency to fight organised crime – Unfulfilled, but made progress
10. Create "early childhood" centres and a network of CONIN centres (Centres for the treatment and prevention of child malnutrition) throughout the
country – Unfulfilled, but made progress
11. Lower inflation to a single-digit percentage – Unfulfilled
12. Generate one million mortgage loans spanning 30 years – Unfulfilled
13. Set in action "the most important infrastructure plan in history" – Unfulfilled, but made progress
14. Install radars and scanners – Unfulfilled, but made progress
15. Create a judicial police force – Unfulfilled
16. Create centres for the treatment of addictions – Unfulfilled, but made progress
17. Incorporate computers into first-grade education in schools – Unfulfilled, but made progress
18. Implement a more transparent electoral system, with electronic ballot – Unfulfilled
19. Professionalise Argentina's police forces – Unfulfilled, but made progress
20. Promote a whilstleblower's law – Fulfilled.
Chequeado said in its report that it has already started noting president-elect Alberto Fernández's campaign promises – and that they will check the status of those over the next four years.
– TIMES/NA
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