By Eliana Raszewski and Brendan O'Boyle
BUENOS AIRES, April 22 (Reuters) - Argentina’s government on Wednesday said it sent Congress an electoral reform bill it said would cut costs, boost transparency and tighten party rules, including by eliminating mandatory primary elections.
The bill reflects libertarian President Javier Milei's broader campaign to slash the size of the Argentine state, which has included deep spending cuts in various sectors of the government.
In a statement, Milei's office called Argentina's mandatory national primary elections a "failed experiment," saying their elimination would make party primaries an internal party matter rather than one of the federal government.
Milei's office said that Argentina's most recent primary elections in 2023 cost the state about 45 billion Argentine pesos ($32.7 million), without resolving any meaningful internal disputes.
The elections, known as the PASO for their acronym in Spanish, influence party funding in the general election. In recent years, they have been criticized as being a costly poll of likely election outcomes rather than a necessary tool to pick candidates. At times their results have rattled markets.
The bill, a draft of which was seen by Reuters, also proposes raising thresholds for starting and maintaining political parties and barring convicted candidates from running.
It establishes prohibitions for financing political parties, such as funds from anonymous donations, from entities or individuals linked to gambling or foreign public entities and others.
The bill must pass the Senate before it goes to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.
($1 = 1,378.0000 Argentine pesos)
(Reporting by Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires and Brendan O'Boyle in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Marta Lopez; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Cassandra Garrison and David Gregorio)
