Martina Jaureguy The anti-graft bill known as Ficha Limpia (Clean Record) unexpectedly fell through Wednesday in the Senate by one vote. It will not be able to be debated again this year.
The bill had been approved by the Lower House in February and needed 37 votes to pass and become law. Ruling coalition La Libertad Avanza (LLA) and their main ally, PRO, had said they had secured the votes for its approval. The final tally, however, was 36 votes for and 35 against, with one senator absent.
Peronist coalition Unión por la Patria (UxP) celebrated the result. UxP has claimed that the bill, which sought to ban individuals with convictions for corruption confirmed by two courts from running for office, was meant to specifically target Peronist leader and ex President Cristina Kirchner. Although she has not confirmed it yet, there are strong indications that Kirchner will compete in the 2025 midterms, either for a seat in Congress or in the Buenos Aires province legislature.
“Today in the Senate we rejected the ‘Ficha Limpia’ bill proposal, which was aimed at persecuting and proscribing Peronism,” UxP senators said in a post on X.
“Democracy and the Argentine people have won.”
PRO national Deputy and current Buenos Aires city lawmaker candidate Silvia Lospennato, who has been the leading voice defending the proposal in the Lower House for years, described the results as “deplorable.”
“You have defrauded Argentina. But we will not stop until we know what happened,” she wrote on X. “We will not stop until the corrupt never win again in Argentina.” The official PRO account said “the corrupt have won” in another X post.
Although the government publicly backed the initiative, there are long-standing rumors that LLA’s position was dubious. A Ficha Limpia bill originally filed by PRO fell through in November in a confusing episode after the session failed to reach quorum, with several LLA deputies absent. The ruling party then filed a new bill, very similar to the original, which passed in the Lower House in February.
The President’s Office posted a statement on X saying that President Javier Milei “despises” the senators for “prioritizing the defense of their personal interests above the demands of the people they claim to represent.” It added that Milei “will not rest” until Ficha Limpia becomes law.
Misiones Senators Carlos Arce and Sonia Rojas Decut were the key swing votes on Wednesday. Although she had indicated that they would vote in line with their party mates from the Lower House and approve the bill, the pair ended up voting against. They are both close to former Misiones governor Carlos Rovira, who is mostly aligned with the Milei administration.
Cristina Kirchner and Ficha Limpia
Kirchner was convicted of fraud in public works contracts in the case known as Vialidad in December 2022. She was sentenced to six years in prison and a lifelong ban on holding public office. In November, Argentina’s Federal Cassation Chamber upheld the ruling against her in the case.
Now that Ficha Limpia was rejected, Kirchner will be free to run for office this year, unless the Supreme Court confirms her conviction. Her attorneys have filed a request to annul the sentence, while the prosecution is demanding her sentence be doubled.
On Monday, Kirchner’s attorneys requested Supreme Court Justice Ricardo Lorenzetti not be allowed to vote on the matter. In a post on X, Kirchner herself argued that Lorenzetti’s “true goal” is to exclude her from the upcoming electoral process.
