Updated 09:49 AM EST, Sun, Dec 22, 2024

Argentina's Mauricio Macri Issues Controversial Presidential Decrees Deeamed 'Anti-Democratic'

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Argentine President Mauricio Macri is now being criticized for what critics deemed as 'anti-democratic' decrees that bypassed the Congress and appointed two new Supreme Court justices.

When he took office in December, Macri vowed to remain true to the rules of democracy and to be open to dialogue with the opposition should the need arise.

Now, a report from The Guardian revealed that he has already made several moves that many would call 'anti-democratic,' including the appointment of two new Supreme Court justices and gutting the former administration's media law.

A report from TelSUR pegged these as two of Macri's five worst moves, together with the removal of some 10,000 government employees from office, devaluing the state currency and slashing taxes.

However, newly appointed Supreme Court justice Germán Garavano called these "emergency measures," since the state Congress was on summer break when the decrees were made.

"We have spent the first three weeks putting out fires. These decrees were simply necessary, it's not part of any great conspiracy. In the case of the Supreme Court two of the five justices had left the court and it can't function with just three," added Hernán Iglesias Illa, presidential adviser to Macri.

Unfortunately, many are still not impressed with this explanation as some even compared Macri to his populist predecessor, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

"Not even Cristina Kirchner did anything so absurd," Argentina's chief constitutional expert Daniel Sabsay described the appointments of the justices, also expressing his disappointment at how the new president handled things since "everything Macri had done had moved [him] almost to tears."

During his campaign and the early days of his reign as the new president of Brazil, Macri promised several things that put him in contrast with Fernández, who governed the Latin American country with an iron fist.

"We want everybody to play a part, people who feel themselves to be on the right and people who feel on the left, Peronists and anti-Peronists," Macri once said, referring to Fernández's movement founded by former president Juan Perón in 1946.

Despite criticisms for his recent moves, The Guardian still believe that having Macri as their leader proved to have a positive impact on the nation's economy, particularly after he appointed "a sharp team of young economists" like economy minister Alfonso Prat-Gay.

On Thursday, Prat-Gay explained to the outlet that they aim for 20 to 25 percent inflation rate, a significant improvement compared to the 30 percent estimate in 2015.

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