Thursday, December 22, 2011

Senate approves Newsprint, Land Ownership Bill

The Upper House of Congress approved the Newsprint bill which establishes that the printing and distribution of newsprint is of public interest during the second day of its 48-hour marathon before the year is over. The Land Ownership bill was also approved with 62 votes in favour and 1 against.

The Newsprint Law sponsored by the government that was preliminary approved by the Lower House establishes that the printing and distribution of newsprint is of public interest, and was approved by the Senate with 41 votes in favour, 26 against and one abstention.

The head of the Upper House's Freedom of Speech committee, Victory Front's Liliana Fellner, explained at the beginning of the session that the initiative is aimed to "end with the quota that hinders the access of the provincial newspapers to the paper."

The government defended the bill arguing that it presents “progress toward a free press” for all media outlets, guaranteeing equal access to paper. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has made a personal appeal to the Congress to instate the law in her recent speeches.

Opposition slammed the bill as a “restriction on the freedom of expression and the importation of paper” and denounced “persecution” of dissenting voices by the national government.

The Senate also approved the Land Ownership bill on Thursday with 62 votes in favour and 1 against. The new law is aimed at curbing land sales to foreigners allowing them to buy only up to 1,000 hectares of land in the country’s most lucrative farming areas.

Besides, it sets a 15 percent limit on the total amount of land that can be owned by foreigners in the country as a whole and in each of its municipalities.

Wednesday night, in what was considered a government victory, the Senate approved the 2012 Budget and Economic Laws, all considered vital to the current administration.