Jasmine Bullorini
05/23/2020 - 19:30
- Clarín.com
- Politics
That the government is considering - doors inside - the possibility of putting together a project to suspend the primary elections in August 2021, sets off alerts from the opposition. Although with differences in tone and criteria, the members of Together for Change agree that if the ruling party is analyzing it at this point, it is more a "political strategy" to "change the rules of the game " than a specific need. However, they do not rule out a reform only for the cases in which no front has inmates.
"If the problem is sanitary, alternatives could be sought. From avoiding the voting of those over a certain age to doubling the number of tables so there is no crowding, or doing it in two days instead of one. If it is for the cost It is even more dangerous: you cannot monetize democracy. It is the wrong discussion. There are many other costs that should be reviewed and cut, " deputy Juan López of the Civic Coalition pointed out to Clarín .
Following that line, the legislator considered that the idea is "absolutely political". "The PASOs are a tool to settle candidates, especially for the opposition, and facilitate agreements. To remove them is to want to divide the opposition and take away options from the people, " he added.
The president of the PRO, Patricia Bullrich, also agrees on this point. "Months ago we thought that they were going to want to change the rules of the game. Because it is easier to order the candidates for them than for the opposition," he says, although he acknowledges that in the last presidential elections there was a "de- legitimization " of the PASO because there was no competition within any front.
At that time, in fact, the discussion had arisen within the Cambiemos government. For this reason, Bullrich points out: "The most important thing is not to discuss whether the PASO is good or bad, but rather that there be fair play and that any change arise from the agreement. If the government wants to impose a project, it cannot be accepted," and adds : "It is also worrying that the ruling party will win majorities with legislators who exchange their votes, as we saw the other day when an attempt was made to debate the DNU of the superpowers and José Luis Ramón, who had spoken out against it, blocked it."
She says she would like the possibility of "primaries within the space not just with affiliates." "With a registration made in advance," he details.
For his part, the head of the PRO caucus, Cristian Ritondo, considers that it is not possible to "take the participation out of convenience." "It is logical not to take the STEP if there is no competition, but we do not deprive the Argentines of democracy, " said Clarín, who consulted.
That position is the one repeated by several of the main leaders of the Radical Civic Union. "You have to be vigilant because in the context of the pandemic, anything goes unnoticed. I do not see justifications today for suspending the PASO. If the moment there are no competitions in any space, it would be different. But now, to deny the competition would be to cut rights ", commented the president of the UCR, the deputy Alfredo Cornejo to Clarín.
According to him, if the PASOs were suspended, "the ruling party would choose their candidates by hand and the opposition based on agreements of a few, and the citizens would be left out."
The head of the Together for Change interblock, the radical Mario Negri, has a similar view: "We have to wait, we didn't see any project. But if it were done today, for so long, it would obey a political strategy. A reform would be different for when there are unique lists, as happened in the last presidential elections. "
As Clarín said, the Government is secretly studying the possibility of suspending the PASOs in 2021 - not repealing them - and Interior Ministry officials began a round of consultations and prepared a project. In turn, they talk about setting some mechanism for the political parties to define their candidacies, either through an internal election or a party congress.