Edgardo Kueider is expelled from the PJ but the Senate’s armor advances

The Provincial Council of the Entre Ríos PJ met in Paraná and resolved to disaffiliate Kueider after being arrested in Paraguay with more than $211,000 undeclared and whose origin is still unknown.

The senator allied with the Casa Rosada already had other pending requests for expulsion based on his vote in favor of the Bases law, but the Disciplinary Court that was supposed to resolve the issue was never formed.

Sanction of the Justicialist Party

The head of the Provincial Council of the PJ of Entre Ríos is José Orlando Cáceres, running mate of Sergio Urribarri, the former governor also arrested for a corruption case. The first vice presidency is held by Daniela Domínguez, head of UPCN, and the second vice presidency by Mauro Díaz Chávez, mayor of Aldea San Antonio.

In parallel, Villarruel must define whether to call the special session requested for Thursday by UP to expel Kueider from the Senate for “moral inability” based on article 66 of the National Constitution. The legislator under house arrest in Asunción, Paraguay, has a mandate until December 2025.

The president of the Senate awaits the meetings of the dialogue blocs of the PRO and the UCR to try to stop the expulsion request taking into account that Kueider’s replacement is the provincial deputy Stefanía Cora who reports to Máximo Kirchner’s La Cámpora.

Although Luis Juez, head of the PRO bench in the Senate, expressed himself in favor of the expulsion, the Macrismo would be divided in the Upper House. The same thing happens in the UCR where the head of the caucus, Eduado Vischi, does not control his senators and would be inclined to vote for a request for leave without pay until justice is delivered. This means that Kueider would effectively be excluded from the Senate until the end of his term, but the license would prevent his substitute from La Cámpora from taking over.

Poroteo in the Senate

After presenting the license request yesterday where the deadline is not established or whether it will be with or without pay, Kueider subtracts one vote from the ruling party in the Senate after having entered through the Frente de Todos ballot. The legislator supported Javier Milei in the approval of the Bases law, Ariel Lijo’s document for the Supreme Court, and was even a candidate for the Casa Rosada to preside over the bicameral commission of the SIDE, which among its functions is to audit the reserved funds of the organization.

If Stefenía Cora from Entre Ríos joined the UP bloc chaired by José Mayans, then pan-Peronism would gain its 34th seat. That platoon along with other opponents such as Martin Lousteauwould then be on the verge of its own quorum in the Senate with the power to block any legislative initiative sent by the Casa Rosada, from filling vacancies in the Supreme Court, the position of Attorney General, the Budget or any other initiative of the Executive Branch. National.

The Government expects as a first measure that Victoria Villarruelin charge of commission appointments as head of the Senate, removes Kueider of the presidency of Constitutional Matters. The case further complicates Milei’s acrimonious relationship with his vice after stating that “he is not part of the government’s decision-making scheme.”

Session against Edgardo Kueider

“The publicly known events linked to the arrest of Senator Edgardo Darío Kueider in the Republic of Paraguay have caused profound shock in society. We are facing an event of extreme institutional gravity that this H. Senate of the Nation cannot and should not tolerate” , claims the request for expulsion from UP.

The legislative function requires not only technical capacity, but also moral integrity. Argentinians expect those who represent them to do so with absolute transparency and adherence to the law. Therefore, given the seriousness of the issue raised here, this H. Senate must address the matter urgently. Any delaying maneuver that seeks to postpone the treatment of this issue can only be understood in one way: complicity,” they add.