Following his mega-decree, President Javier Milei now wants Congress to reform the state. In a request filed Friday night, Milei called for extraordinary sessions starting next Tuesday until the end of January to treat a bill that reforms the state and ten other topics.

This development comes only 48 hours after Milei announced a mega-decree annulling or modifying hundreds of laws that protect Argentine workers from predatory business practices. Per his letter, Milei doesn’t plan on waiting for Congress to be in regular functions to discuss his plan, given that ordinary sessions don’t begin until March 1.

Milei expects a new wave of reforms in these sessions, the most ambitious one being a “bill to reform the state’s duties.” This proposal is reminiscent of Carlos Menem’s so-called “state reform” in the 1990s, which was spearheaded by current Treasury Prosecution Office head Rodolfo Barra. 

Other projects in the letter requesting extraordinary sessions include the revision of a tax for high-income workers that former Economy Minister Sergio Massa virtually eliminated last October. Milei supported the project at the time but is now backing down. The measure benefited 800,000 workers and has a fiscal impact of 0.83% of the GDP, according to estimates by the Congress Office.

Another bill is the modification of the electoral system to install a single-paper ballot instead of the one-ballot-per-party system that is currently used.

The agenda also includes the authorization for Milei to travel abroad during 2024 and the ratification of agreements between Argentina and Japan, China, Luxemburg, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey.

Lower House head Martín Menem said the ruling party is working to get the support it needs for the approval of key bills. “We are getting as many wills as possible,” Menem said. “There will be a quorum, and we will pass the bills.”

La Libertad Avanza (LLA) has 38 lawmakers out of a total of 257 in the lower chamber, which means it would need to weave alliances with other forces to obtain a quorum of 129 deputies in order to move forward and pass the laws.

In the Senate, LLA only has seven seats out of 72. The first minority belongs to the Peronist coalition Frente de Todos (FdT), with 33 representatives.