Argentina. The announcement of the elected government of Argentina, headed by Mauricio Macri, that it will appoint Miguel de Godoy to head the Federal Authority of Audiovisual Communication Services, Afsca, generated controversy within the entity due to what its director considers a "ignorance of the law" by the new government.
The director of Afsca, Martín Sabbatella, said that "It is striking that the elected Government is now thinking of appointing a new board of directors for the agency, since the law clearly establishes the periods that each administration lasts and when the appointments have to occur. Either he has already thought about which official he will propose in two years' time, when the mandate of the current board expires, or he does not know the law, or he has a clear intention of violating it."
"If the intention of the future government is to make a change of AFSCA authorities this year, it clearly shows that it does not want to respect the current regulations and, in that sense, it is really worrying that before assuming his mandate Mauricio Macri announces his intention to violate the law," Said Sabbatella.
Afsca stressed that Article 14 of Law 26,522 states: "The conduct and administration of the Federal Authority for Audiovisual Communication Services shall be exercised by a board of directors composed of seven (7) members appointed by the national Executive Power. The president and the directors shall serve for four (4) years and may be re-elected for one term. The formation of the board of directors will be carried out within the two (2) years prior to the end of the mandate of the head of the national Executive Power, and there must be two (2) years of difference between the beginning of the mandate of the directors and the national Executive Power. "
"That two-year decoupling is not a whim," Sabbatella explained, "it was thought in this way by legislators so that a president is obliged to live with a board that is formed two years ago, and has to do with the democratic principles, plurality, and diversity, which are the very spirit of the law."
