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The fight of the Argentine opposition for the city of Buenos Aires sharpens its internal cracks

2023-04-11T10:36:58.450Z


Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, current head of government in the capital, challenges former president Mauricio Macri and unfolds the elections in the most anti-Peronist district


The head of Government of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta (second from the left), the former governor of Buenos Aires, María Eugenia Vidal, and the former president Mauricio Macri celebrate the victory of Together for Change in the parliamentary elections of November 2021. ALEJANDRO PAGNI (AFP)

The Argentine opposition suffers from success.

It is so sure of its victory in the presidential elections in October that its leaders have advanced the fight for spaces of power that they still do not have.

This Monday, the blood finally reached the river in the city of Buenos Aires, the most anti-Peronist district in Argentina.

The mayor of the capital, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, ignored the mandate of his political chief, Mauricio Macri, and doubled the primary elections.

It may seem like a small decision, but it is hidden that control of an administration that has served as a presidential springboard for two former presidents is at stake: the radical Fernando de la Rúa in 1999 and Macri himself, in 2015. "What a profound disappointment," he wrote. Macri in his social networks barely known the decision of his dolphin.

On Sunday, August 13, the political parties will choose their candidates in primary, open, simultaneous and mandatory elections.

The PASO, as they are popularly known, function as a national survey, with no margin for error, which positions the winners for the final dispute, scheduled for October 22.

While the ruling Peronism plays the loser, the opposition alliance Together for Change knows that the name of the future president can emerge from that previous election.

And also that of the head of government of the city of Buenos Aires.

Mauricio Macri wants that district to remain in the hands of the Pro, the party he founded in the capital and later led him to the presidency.

He promotes the candidacy of his cousin, Jorge Macri, for this.

But his family plan collides with that of Rodríguez Larreta,

that has an agreement in the city with the Radical Civic Union (UCR), the centenary party that integrates the opposition alliance together with Pro.

After weeks of speculation, Rodríguez Larreta decided to kick the board and ignore Macri's commandment.

Together we achieved transformations that seemed impossible.

Now comes the time to choose again about the future of the City.

pic.twitter.com/4adtCzFRFv

– Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (@horaciorlarreta) April 10, 2023

It was a gesture of authority whose consequences remain to be seen.

By unfolding the elections, Rodríguez Larreta allows the UCR candidate, Martin Lousteau, to present himself without the burden of a candidate from his party who is not competitive.

“It is a gesture of authority and autonomy from Horacio.

The electoral law of the City provides that the head of Government is the one who has the power to define the format of the election, he did not change the rules.

In addition, it was prioritized to consolidate Together for Change than to block ourselves in the Pro in order to really transform the country”, says a source close to the head of government.

The move harms Jorge Macri above all, who, if he appears in the PASO, will have to fight for his space in Together for Change with other candidates from the coalition.

In a recorded message, Rodríguez Larreta clarified that he is not in his plans to support the UCR in the August primaries.

“As I have said many times, I am going to support a candidate from my party, which is the Pro. In the coming weeks we are going to be working to define which is the best candidate to continue with all the transformations that we started with Mauricio and that we continue Until today," he said.

The problem is that "the best candidate" may be someone who does not bear the last name Macri.

Rodríguez Larreta's decision managed to unite against him, and with unknown virulence, all of the Pro's presidential candidates. The former governor of Buenos Aires María Eugenia Vidal was the first to react: "The Pro and the Together for Change that we promised the argentines is not this.

There is no personal ambition that can be above our values ​​and the team.

We are the change or we are nothing.

Macri immediately retweeted the message: “I agree with María Eugenia.

What a profound disappointment."

Patricia Bullrich, Macri's favorite pre-candidate, raised the tone even more “Today, he [by Rodríguez Larreta] manipulated the electoral rules in the city of Buenos Aires four months before the elections.

Let's take care of people's money.

This decision is wasteful.

We continue on the path of values.

With me,

IT'S VERY SIMPLE: coherence and conviction are the values ​​we defend.



Therefore: “It is wrong to change the rules.

It is cheating”, as Horacio Rodríguez Larreta said.



Today, he manipulated the electoral rules in the city of Buenos Aires four months before the elections… pic.twitter.com/1S5N0pLGgu

— Patricia Bullrich (@PatoBullrich) April 10, 2023

You should not confuse the moral appeal to the alleged "waste" involved in holding two elections on the same day.

What is behind it is the first great battle for leadership in a future government that the opposition presumes to be within arm's reach.

Rodríguez Larreta imagines himself president and decided to break with Macri before it is too late.

He grew up in politics under his wing, but he also sees himself reflected in the "double command" of the current Administration, with Alberto Fernández at the helm of the Casa Rosada and Cristina Kirchner, his political chief, setting the pace for the management.

There are four months left for the PASO and six for the presidential ones.

Times of political turmoil await Argentines.

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Source: elparis

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