Milei complains Congress is being held ‘hostage by Kirchnerism’

President criticises rejection of his veto of the Disability Emergency Law during speech to Council of the Americas, accuses opponents of seeking to “bring down the national state.”

President Javier Milei reacted fiercely to another legislative defeat on Thursday by accusing his rivals of taking Congress “hostage” and seeking to derail his reform agenda.

Speaking the day after lawmakers in the lower house Chamber of Deputies overturned a presidential veto of a bill to improve funding and benefits for the disabled, Milei sought to those who voted against him with the opposition Peronist movement.

“Yesterday, we witnessed a macabre spectacle in the National Congress. They made it perfectly clear, once again, that what we are facing is a Congress held hostage by Kirchnerism – a Congress that answers only to its own interests,” Milei said at a speech at a Council of the Americas event at a hotel in wealthy Recoleta, Buenos Aires.

“They reminded us that they have only one legislative agenda: to break the national state. It is astounding to hear these honourable Kirchnerite lawmakers claim that their spending spree is meant to stop the cruelty of this government.”

“They, who just two years ago brought us all to the brink of catastrophe, are hiding the fact that the ultimate aim of all these initiatives is to break the state,” he said, attacking the Unión por la Patria caucus.

Milei, who initially adopted a measured tone before becoming more agitated, said that his rivals wanted to return to “money-printing” and “the catastrophic path of inflationary destruction, which we worked so hard to overcome.”

“It’s simple – they want to destroy the economy,” he continued. “Let’s be clear: Kirchnerism doesn’t care about ruining the lives of decent Argentines if it means sabotaging our administration.”

Milei, who faces key midterm elections in October, said he hoped voters would back him at the ballot-box and grant him greater representation in Congress.

"People will be able to choose between the ideas of freedom and the ideas of the past,” said the President. "We are facing a pivotal moment, and I hope that Argentines choose freedom.”

– TIMES/NA