Although the veto of the law was rejected in September, opposition politicians started a campaign to move forward again towards the prohibition of online gambling in the province.
Argentina.- In September, the project that sought to repeal the Online Gambling Law in Córdoba was rejected by the Legislature, in a close vote that was decided by a single vote. But now, just two months later, opposition politicians are seeking to have the veto of the activity reconsidered by the provincial Legislative Power.
The youth sectors of the Civic Front (FC), the Radical Civic Union (UCR), the PRO, Neighborhood Meeting (EV), and the Better Future Foundation organized a signature collection campaign to advance in this direction. Opposition legislators Walter Nostrala, Rodrigo Agrelo, Viviana Martoccia, Gregorio Hernández Maqueda, Daniel Juez, and Alejandra Ferrero, belonging to the Blocks that promoted the bill to repeal the law in the Legislature, which was rejected by the ruling party and its allies in a marathon session on September 18th, also participated.
“When we lost the vote, I expressed it in the chamber: we lost a battle, but not the war. Now we are driving this citizen campaign, to give a real dimension to the damage that gambling is causing, and for the Governor to realize that the State cannot be a partner in a business that sickens young people,” said Walter Nostrala, block president of the Civic Front.
For his part, Rodrigo Agrelo from Neighborhood Meeting said: "We started this campaign trying to make visible the serious problem that Córdoba has with online betting. Many young people, teenagers, and entire families are getting stuck to this real pandemic. We cannot let Córdoba become a gambling den. We have to raise our voices so that they don’t steamroll us."
Meanwhile, Tomás Casañas Lerner, president of the Youth of the Civic Front, highlighted that “there are issues where there are no grays and we are all together. This is one. The advance of this gambling pandemic among young people is worrying, and the majority of Cordoban society is against it. If Llaryora does nothing, just like the ruling party in the Legislature, he is being complicit in this scourge.”
See also: Online gambling in Córdoba: the opposition seeks to "deepen the debate" and establish key policies
It is worth remembering that, in order not to "politicize" the discussion, the organizers decided to create the Instagram profile “@noaljuegoonline”, through which they seek to spread awareness about the issue.
In that sense, they also enabled a space on the well-known signature collection platform “Change.org”, where it is specified: “The State cannot be a partner in a business that enriches a handful of businessmen while sickening hundreds of thousands of families. They should not gamble our future. We invite you to be part of this fight.”
Although Law 10.793 was not repealed as some sectors proposed, after the debate that took place in September, various modifications were made to the law in order to better achieve its objectives and consider other aspects that had been overlooked in the original drafting of the law.
