Silvia Sapag

Silvia Sapag
National Senator
Incumbent
Assumed office
10 December 2019
ConstituencyNeuquén
In office
10 December 1998 – 10 December 2001
ConstituencyNeuquén
National Deputy
In office
17 December 2008 – 10 December 2009
ConstituencyNeuquén
Personal details
Born (1949-02-22) 22 February 1949 (age 75)
Cutral Có, Argentina
Political partyNeuquén People's Movement
Other political
affiliations		Front for Victory (2015–2017)
Frente de Todos (since 2019)
Alma materNational University of Comahue

Silvia Estela Sapag (born 22 February 1949) is an Argentine politician who has been a National Senator for Neuquén Province since 2019. A scion of the Sapag political family and a member of the Neuquén People's Movement, Sapag previously served as senator for Neuquén from 1998 to 2001, and as a National Deputy from 2008 to 2009. In the Senate, she sits in the Frente de Todos parliamentary bloc.

Early life and education

Silvia Sapag was born on 22 February 1949 in Cutral Có, Neuquén Province.[1] She is the second child and only daughter of Estela Romero and Felipe Sapag, co-founder of the Neuquén People's Movement and four-time governor of Neuquén. Other prominent members of her direct family include her brother Luis Felipe Sapag, who was a provincial legislator.[2]

Sapag studied to be a teacher in Neuquén, and later earned a geography professor degree from the National University of Comahue in 1970.[1] She taught both in elementary and secondary schools. She also worked as a typewriting editor in Sur Argentino, a local newspaper in Neuquén, from 1976 to 1977.[3]

Political career

Sapag's political career began in the Neuquén People's Movement (MPN). As daughter of one of its founders, Sapag participated in numerous campaigns and organized the female branch of the MPN. She was a member of the party's convention in 1990, 1991, and 1992, and served as president of the electoral commission in the party's primaries in 1993. She was vice-president of the MPN from 1992 to 1995.[3] In 1997, she ran against Jorge Sobisch for the chairmanship of the party.[2]

She also held numerous posts during the successive governorships of her father. She was his private secretary during his two terms from 1970 to 1972 and from 1973 to 1976. During his fourth governorship (1983–1987), she was director of social emergency of Neuquén and co-ordinator of the Provincial Institute of Housing and Urban Planning. She was an elector in the 1989 presidential election.[3]

Congresswoman

In 1998, she was appointed as National Senator by the provincial legislature of Neuquén, with mandate until 2001. She replaced Jorge Solana.[4] She formed part of the parliamentary commission on energy and fuels. In 2000, Sapag accused the senator from Salta, Emilio Cantarero, of offering bribes to fellow senators in exchange for voting in favour of a pro-oil industry bill.[5][6]

Following the end of her father's last term as governor, she stopped participating in MPN activities (while keeping her membership), and later joined the Front for Victory (FPV).[7] In the 2005 legislative election, she was a candidate for National Deputy in the FPV list, as the second candidate, behind Oscar Massei.[8] The FPV list came second in the election, with 35.46% of the vote, and Sapag was not elected. She would, however, take office in replacement of Massei upon his resignation in 2008.[9] Her term expired on 10 December 2009.[10]

In the 2019 general election, Sapag ran for one of Neuquén's three seats in the Senate as the second candidate in the Frente de Todos (FDT) list, behind Oscar Parrilli.[11] The FDT list was the most voted in the province, with 47.68% of the vote, granting both candidates the seats for the majority as per the Senate's limited voting system.[12]

Sapag forms part of the parliamentary commissions on Women's Affairs, Constitutional Affairs, National Economy and Investment, Foreign Affairs and Worship, and Labour and Social Prevision.[1] She was a supporter of the legalisation of abortion in Argentina, voting in favour of the 2020 Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy bill debated by the Argentine Congress.[13]

She is one of two members of the Sapag family currently serving in the National Congress of Argentina, alongside Carmen Lucila Crexell.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Silvia Estela Sapag". Directorio Legislativo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Bilardo, Gerardo (22 September 2000). "Heredera de una larga tradición de poder". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Senador Silvia Estela Sapag". Honorable Senado de la Nación (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 15 December 2001.
  4. ^ "La mujer tendrá menos presencia en el Congreso". Río Negro (in Spanish). 22 November 1999. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  5. ^ Verbitsky, Horacio (20 September 2000). "El fin del silencio". Página/12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  6. ^ "De cadete a dueño de todas las sospechas". Clarín (in Spanish). 22 September 2000. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Silvia Sapag: "La línea política de Felipe está en el Frente de Todos"". LM Neuquén (in Spanish). 1 July 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  8. ^ Schurman, Diego (11 June 2005). "Kirchneristas y radicales se lanzaron en Neuquén". Página/12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Silvia Sapag, dispuesta a reemplazar a Massei". Río Negro (in Spanish). 27 November 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Asumió Silvia Sapag en Diputados". LM Neuquén (in Spanish). 18 December 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Lista única, con Parrilli senador y Darío Martínez diputado". Va con firma (in Spanish). 22 June 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Elecciones 2019: resultados finales en Neuquén". Río Negro (in Spanish). 28 October 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Sapag: «Mi mamá me prohibía hablar del aborto en público»". Río Negro (in Spanish). 24 October 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  14. ^ "La familia Sapag, dividida por el nuevo subsidio para consumos de gas". Va con firma (in Spanish). 26 June 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
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