Cabinet chief calls Cobos ‘immoral’

Aníbal Fernández tweets: Vice-President ‘clearly disloyal’ toward the government

The government continued its attacks against Vice-President Julio Cobos for his positive vote to the opposition-sponsored pension bill passed on Thursday, which established pensions at 82 percent of the minimum salary and was vetoed by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner who considered it “a bankruptcy law” for the state and called Cobos “a squatter” in his post.
Following criticism from several government officials during Thursday and Friday, Cabinet Chief Aníbal Fernández continued the criticism against the Vice-President yesterday via his Twitter account, where he questioned Cobos’ “clear disloyalty” toward the government and considered his attitude is “immoral.”
“What Cobos has been doing is immoral. Is not worthy of the post. A clear disloyalty. He embarrasses the institutions,” Fernández posted on his Twitter account yesterday.
“Insisting on something in particular, given his deeply-rooted misbehaviour, is trying to plough in the desert. But a petty quota of shame would be enough to understand him,” added the Cabinet chief.
In the early hours of Thursday, Cobos broke the tie of the pension bill vote in favour of the opposition. As several government officials had announced before the voting, President Fernández de Kirchner vetoed the law that same afternoon and accused the opposition of aiming to force the government into bankruptcy.
Cobos gave the closing speech at the IDEA business colloquium in Mar del Plata city on Friday — attended by several members of the opposition including Radical Party chairman Ernesto Sanz, Santa Fe Socialist Governor Hermes Binner and dissident Peronist Deputy Francisco de Narváez — where he defended his decision to vote in favour of the bill.

“We lost the opportunity to implement a great state policy for the pension system,” said Cobos, who had voted in opposition once before during the controversial government-sponsored export duties bill in 2007 and has detached himself from the government ever since.
Cobos considered Fernández de Kirchner “made a mistake” by deciding to veto the law and said he “would have preferred a law with more consensus and more votes.”
“I took my oath to be loyal to the Constitution,” said Cobos in reference to the accusations of “treason” made against him by the government. “And it establishes two articles to define a treason: to rise in arms against the nation or to delegate all the concentration of power in one of the branches of power,” he added.
However, Fernández contradicted Cobos’ explanation and said he should represent the government in the Upper House.
“I know that Cobos, the VP who betrays, is an engineer and not a lawyer, but he could as well get some advice on how not to speak  nonsense,” commented Fernández, who quoted Article 57 of the Constitution, saying “the Vice-President will be president of the Senate, he will not have a vote except in the case of a tie,” and added “he doesn’t have a voice either.”
“The VP is (a part of the) Executive branch (of power) and his salary is paid by the Treasury. Learn it, you don’t represent the Senate,” the Cabinet Chief posted on his twitter site in reference to Cobos’ statements saying “the Vice-President is responsible for other branches of power and eventually replaces the President in case of absence.”
Former Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernández also criticized the Vice-President as he considered that “this thing of voting against the government creates a very conflictive situation.”
“It’s very difficult to understand Cobos’ stance because he is there to break the tie in favour of the government, given that it is a presidential system,” said the former government official, who claimed he has “affection” and “respect” for the Vice-President.
Radical Deputy Silvana Giúdici defended Cobos on her Twitter site: “Aníbal Fernández attacks Cobos because he does what corresponds. Cobos’ vote expresses the (will of the) people, he is loyal to his principles, NOT the government!”