Eduardo Paladini
12/09/2020 12:00
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 12/09/2020 12:00
In the general elections of 2017, after a couple and controversial STEP,
Cambiemos achieved
a
historic triumph
in the province
of Buenos Aires
.
Perhaps as important in political terms as the one he had achieved there a few years before for the governorship.
The blow in the intermediate was double: Esteban Bullrich beat Cristina Kirchner for the Senate and Graciela Ocaña got an even greater advantage for deputies.
This latest victory, thanks to 42.2%, puts the space today before a huge challenge.
Next year, Together for Change renews 14 national seats that it won in the district.
You need a strong candidate to get close to at least that number.
But nobody wants to wear the suit.
The reasoning is basic: a hard defeat in 2021 against the Frente de Todos can leave that soldier badly injured for the biggest fight, that of 2023.
Clarín
spoke with half a dozen Macrista sources who participate in the electoral assembly for next year.
Everyone agrees that
María Eugenia Vidal
is "the one who measures the most" at the moment.
Problem solved?
No. Basically because the former governor doubts her future.
"She is
not going to make a decision until March
of next year. And if the PASO are suspended, it could be extended until May," they told this newspaper near Vidal.
But beyond the times, the former governor has something clear.
"She is going to wait for the scenario to settle. After the very tough defeat in 2019,
she cannot lose the Province again
. The decision will be conditioned by her 2023 project," they completed.
María Eugenia Vidal with Mauricio Macri and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.
The former governor distanced herself from the former president and they play in tandem with the head of government.
Couldn't that project include a rematch as Axel Kicillof's successor?
According to three PRO officials who follow the Buenos Aires army,
"the only thing that María Eugenia does not want is to be governor again
.
"
Around Vidal they are less blunt, but admit that "it may be that due to some internal conversations that took place, that has been interpreted."
And if she's not a candidate for governor, what?
"
President, vice
of (Horacio Rodríguez) Larreta or
head of Government
. We must see how 2023 is reached," they insist in their environment.
A return to the City (she was Minister of Development and vice-chief of Mauricio Macri from 2011 to 2015) or a national leap is well seen by other Macrista leaders.
Are you worried about the situation of the porteños?
No, they want to go for the governorship.
Two of those leaders are the current Buenos Aires deputy chief,
Diego Santilli
, and the mayor of Vicente López,
Jorge Macri
.
The first, having two consecutive terms in office, cannot aspire to succeed Larreta.
And the former president's cousin no longer has reelection in his municipality.
Diego Santilli, deputy head of the Buenos Aires Government, one of the names that sounds for the Province in 2023.
"Jorge is going to be a candidate for governor in 2023. For 2021 the figure that has consensus and postpones fights is Vidal. He would only be if necessary, but he is not enthusiastic about the legislation," they responded to
Clarín
close to the mayor.
"Diego is excited about the fight for the governorship. The pandemic gave him a visibility that he did not have. And he measures well.
Vidal would be a solution for 2021
and can also be a good running mate for Larreta in an eventual intern with the UCR Then, for the Province, let everyone fight: Diego, Jorge, Cristian (for Ritondo) ", they expanded on the small table in Santilli.
That he himself is a candidate in Buenos Aires next year is a risky leap: again the fear of a premature defeat that complicates future plans.
"It is true that Santilli measures well, but it will be difficult for him to become governor in 2023. The province's policy is already ripe to elect its own candidate and there is territoriality to respect. There is no longer a centrality that places candidates to finger ".
Do the Kirchnerists say this?
No, those who want Jorge Macri governor.
Another who drives Vidal for 2021 is Emilio Monzó.
After being fought during the four years of government of Cambiemos, there was a rapprochement.
"Emilio would like to do a tandem with María Eugenia next year," they acknowledge near Monzó.
"And I would like to be a friend of Cristiano Ronaldo ...", Chicanea vidalismo: "He says he wants to be second and then enter fourth or fifth, but make sure the bench."
Quarrels that did not close completely.
Mayor Jorge Macri, on a tour at the end of September.
Without reelection in Vicente López, he wants to run for governor in 2023.
Vidal's relationship that was also damaged is with Mauricio Macri.
The governor saw with good eyes trying the national jump in 2019 or at least advancing the election in the Province to get rid of the economic collapse of that time and the erosion of the figure of the former president.
They did not grant him any.
"Today he gets along better with Lilita (for Elisa Carrió) than with Mauricio,"
sums up a former official.
In this context, Vidal plays today more than ever in tandem with Larreta, as figures of the moderate sector.
They are the ones who push "to expand the coalition towards the center" and even speak of a fourth leg, in addition to the PRO;
the UCR and the Civic Coalition.
"We lack a fourth Peronist leg, in the center," they explain.
The
strategy of the head of government
will be key to see where the former governor ends up running (or not).
Internal tension is latent.
After six months with almost no contact, Vidal accepted a coffee with Patricia Bullrich, holder of the PRO and reference of the hard wing.
A photo of the meeting transcended.
"That was Patricia or one of her team trying to show that they seek to get closer to the moderates. Nonsense that does not add to the relationship," concluded a former Bonarense official.
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