These mid-term legislative elections are crucial for Milei, who now has the guarantee of strengthening the parliamentary base (so far with 15% of deputies, 10% of senators) and thus increasing the capacity to reform and deregulate a fragile economy in full financial turmoil.
Javier Milei estimated that obtaining a third of the seats, in a parliament where none of the chambers has an absolute majority, would be a “good number”, a threshold that would allow him, in particular, to impose presidential vetoes on parliamentarians.
According to the news agency France-Presse (AFP), several analysts estimate that, regardless of the outcome of the elections, Javier Milei “will have to make a pragmatic turn.”
“Regain the negotiating capacity that allowed him to pass laws” at the beginning of the mandate, said political scientist Lara Goyburu, cited by AFP.
Since 2023, the head of state has legislated a lot through decrees or specific legislative agreements in the hemicycle. But in recent months it has been increasingly harmed by a parliament irritated by the rigidity that the leader demonstrates and even by the insults he hurls: “rats’ nest” and “degenerates” are some examples.
The moderate opposition, sectors of the Argentine productive economy and also international donors, such as the International Monetary Fund, insistently asked the executive to “strengthen political and social support” for its reforms.
Among the reforms foreseen by Javier Milei until 2027 are tax reforms, flexibility in the labor market and the social protection system.
Javier Milei enters the elections with the merit of having controlled inflation, from more than 200% to 31.8% year-on-year, and having achieved an unprecedented budget balance in 14 years, wrote AFP.
But the “largest budget adjustment in history” — as he likes to repeat — resulted in the loss of more than 200,000 jobs, in anemic activity, with a contraction of 1.8% in 2024, and a recovery in 2025, which is losing strength.