BUENOS AIRES, Feb 7, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Argentine President Javier Milei's deeply controversial deregulatory reforms were dealt a major setback in parliament Tuesday when the package was prevented from advancing and sent back for a rewrite, legislators said.

Oscar Zago, leader of the ruling party faction, requested for the matter "to go back to committee," a motion passed by lawmakers that left the libertarian Milei's sweeping economic reform bill -- including privatizations and revamping of the penal code -- up in the air.