By order of the Executive, Congress restricts the presence of the press in the Legislative Assembly

By order of the Executive, Congress will restrict the presence of the press in the Legislative Assembly that will be headed by President Javier Milei this Saturday for the start of the ordinary session period.

For the first time in democracy, photographers from independent media will not be able to obtain accreditation to enter the Assembly . This was the order communicated this afternoon by Senate executives to photo editors from various print and web media.

It had already happened during Milei's administration that they were not allowed to be inside the premises, on the ground floor next to the legislators as was customary, but on this occasion they will not be allowed to work from the boxes either.

That is to say, the images of the central moment of the event, which is the President's speech and the opposition's reactions, will only be those broadcast by the Presidency or those seen through the video of the official broadcast.

Despite the protests, the Legislative Branch - which is independent of the Executive - did not offer resistance and complied with the Government's orders.

In turn, parliamentary journalists , who work every day from Congress and have assigned boxes in the first floor of the Chamber of Deputies to carry out their work , will be removed from that space to provide more space for "guests of the Presidency."

The authorities of both chambers reported that they will have to sit in the second-floor guest gallery, which is more difficult to see from because of its height and does not have a counter to support computers or notebooks. However, they did promise to provide slippers so that the equipment can be plugged in.

Given the decision not to reverse this position, the Circle of Legislative Journalists will meet this Wednesday to evaluate a joint repudiation action.

Parliamentary journalists had already been removed from their historic place last September, when Milei wanted to go and present the 2025 Budget to Congress himself, which he finally ended up extending by decree for the second time. The press seat was occupied, among other guests, by Daniel Scioli. The Government has already announced that it will invite judges Ariel Lijo and García Mansilla to the assembly, whom the President will appoint to the Supreme Court by decree, although they should sit on the ground floor.

On March 1, photographers were no longer allowed to enter the ground floor. Although it was customary for each media outlet to have one photographer assigned to the ground floor and another upstairs, at the last minute they were not allowed into the grounds. They all took their places in the boxes.