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How long does it take for them to get off after she calls them?" The rhetorical question, which perhaps overestimates the power of Cristina Kirchner in the Frente de Todos, arises from an important ultrakirchnerista leader to justify the reason for his conviction that finally, despite the comings and goings, on August 13 in the PASO there will be no competition in the ruling party.
But the conviction that there is no one who can ignore a request from the vice president predominates in the coalition, even among the leaders who lined up behind the presidential aspiration of Interior Minister Eduardo "Wado" de Pedro, the most concrete option in case there is an internal one.
The perception is not limited only to the obedience of unconditional K as the Chief of Cabinet, Agustín Rossi, but contemplates the -for now- intransigent Daniel Scioli, who this Sunday insisted that he is not going to get off and that his decision to be a pre-candidate "is irreversible".
"For now she didn't make any decisions, but I don't think anyone can say no to her. The last one was (Florencio) Randazzo and that's how it went," says a source of periodic dialogue with the vice who, however, admits that he is not "clear" if there will be one or two candidates but that "three would already be crazy."
Strictly speaking, there is someone in the ruling party who has been resisting him for some time: the governor of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, who refuses to make the leap to the national contest and prefers to go for his re-election in the Province.
Scioli's stance
Although Scioli chose "not to answer" what he called "dimes y diretes" that he prefers not to take seriously, among his campaign owners reject any speculation.
"It's peak trading season. Daniel has the conviction of being the candidate for president of the space, he believes that he adds up and that he can win, therefore he is not going to get off," one of them told Clarín. Another important Sciolist battering ram doubled down with a chicane: "If everyone else wants to choose him as a candidate, no problem." It sounds like a utopia: the vice president detests the former governor.
Victoria Tolosa Paz with Daniel Scioli.
Days ago, in the Sciolismo they had received with annoyance the versions that realized that Victoria Tolosa Paz, who launched herself as their pre-candidate for governor, could become the card of the negotiation to which the K would resort to deactivate the armed of the ambassador.
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They throw scenarios of a possible agreement with her to confuse the bases. There was and doesn't exist that conversation. We are going to the PASO and we have already armed in the 135 districts," they said. The campaign movements exhibited by the pair over the weekend seem to have been plotted to clear up doubts.
Rumors and bill passes
Behind the rumors point to Sergio Massa's Renewal Front. "They (the economy minister's troops) are the only ones who insist on the consensus candidate because they want it to be him. But there is no more room for anyone's finger. Even Wado (Pedro) believes that there has to be STEP," they reply.
This last point is like this: Wado has already publicly stated that if there is no agreement it should be defined with an internal one, but in contrast to the dramatic scenario exposed by those who reject it, he believes that it will improve the electoral performance. Among his campaign collaborators, among whom there are communication strategists from La Cámpora, they consider that "it is important that the debate of the Frente de Todos occupies media space, if not the PASO of Together for Change takes everything."
The idea that there is a candidate who, although implicitly, defends the management of Alberto Fernández, is seen with good eyes in Interior since, as they understand, it would allow De Pedro to distance himself from the decisions of the President. On the other hand, although no one will say it in public. At the bottom they admit that, if Scioli were not in the race, the road for Massa would be easy and the fielder, as plan B, would not have monopolized the support he garnered in the last ten days.
Massa's movements
However, from Massa's entourage they swear they do not know what decision he is going to take but respond angrily to those who point out that he insists with the unity candidate to be the one who heads the ballot: "They are crazy, they continue to play soldiers in the middle of the crisis. Sergio (Massa) does not speculate, he never proposed that strategy for his own benefit. He didn't do it when he took office, he doesn't do it now." Their position, they argue, has to do with the impact that an internal one can have on the progress of the economy.
Sergio Massa and Máximo Kirchner, in China.
Anyway, on his return from China, he prepared a very suggestive agenda. This Tuesday he will participate in a seminar organized by a friend of his, the Minister of Public Works, Gabriel Katopodis. "What Argentina do we want to be?", is the title of the Infrastructure event, which will have him as a speaker at the opening and in which his wife and head of AySA Malena Galmarini will also participate.
There are expected speeches that call to avoid the internal ones. It may be an appetizer of the meeting that the governors will hold this Wednesday at the Federal Investment Council: there, according to Massista sources, the presidents will target multiple candidacies.
See also
