Several provincial governors without libertarian leanings supported President Javier Milei's controversial labor reform during Congress's extraordinary sessions. Despite their peronist or traditional opposition backgrounds, their backing was crucial for the Government's legislative wins. This support contrasts with prior rejections and stems from electoral and economic factors.
Milei's labor reform, one of the Government's most controversial laws, progressed in Congress thanks to the support of a majority of provincial governors, many without the libertarian DNA of the official bloc. Political analyses indicate that none of the resounding legislative triumphs in extraordinary sessions can be explained without this backing, especially on core issues like labor reform.
Despite many of these leaders voting against official projects last year and even helping overturn presidential vetoes, La Libertad Avanza's (LLA) solid electoral victory in October shifted the landscape. This improved Milei's congressional representation and created a bandwagon effect, prompting governors like Jorge Macri (CABA, PRO), Rogelio Frigerio (Entre Ríos, PRO), Alfredo Cornejo (Mendoza, UCR), Leandro Zdero (Chaco, PRO), and Claudio Poggi (San Luis, PRO) to ally, sharing lists with LLA.
Others, such as radical Correntino Juan Pablo Valdés and Sanjuanino Marcelo Orrego, also backed the bill. In the provincial peronist sphere, figures include Gustavo Sáenz (Salta), Hugo Passalacqua (Misiones), Claudio Vidal (Santa Cruz, unionist), and Rolando Figueroa (Neuquén, ex-MPN). Maximiliano Pullaro (Santa Fe, radical) endorsed the reform, while Martín Llaryora's (Córdoba, cordobesista peronism) legislators split, with absences like Juan Schiaretti's.
Curious cases include Raúl Jalil (Catamarca), whose legislators secured quorum but then rejected the project, and Osvaldo Jaldo (Tucumán), nicknamed 'Jaldei' for his ideological flip-flops, who ultimately supported the law. Reasons encompass electoral affinities—many local voters backed Milei—, material needs amid cuts in coparticipation, public works, and National Treasury Contributions, and the requirement for government approval to borrow abroad.
The Government, via Interior Minister Diego Santilli, leverages this dynamic for votes, though governors imposed limits, such as removing the corporate Income Tax reduction due to impacts on provincial funds. In contrast, opposing peronist governors like Axel Kicillof (Buenos Aires), Gildo Insfrán (Formosa), Gustavo Melella (Tierra del Fuego), and Ricardo Quintela (La Rioja) maintain staunch rejection, without dialogue or alternative proposals.
This unstable support from 'Mileist governors' bolsters Milei temporarily, but its social persistence and political loyalty remain uncertain.
