Cambiemos infighting spills over with Carrió at centre

PRO Party leader in the Lower House Nicolas Massott fired back at coalition colleague Elisa Carrió on Sunday after allegations by Carrió that Emilio Monzó had operated against the government during his four years as Speaker of the House.

A Peronist, Monzó and his allies were relegated to the bottom of the pecking order in the decision-making surrounding candidacies. Página 12, citing sources, reported Monzó was now considering an alliance with the Frente de Todos (Front for All) coalition led by Alberto Fernandez and his running mate, former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

During an interview with television presenter Mirta Legrand, Carrió alleged Monzo sent a Peronist politician to convince her to "break" her alliance with the Mauricio Macri government. Carrió's Coalicion Civica (CC) party is the third party in size in the ruling Cambiemos (Let's Change) coalition alongside Macri's PRO and the historic UCR Radical Party.

"What she said about Monzo is a lie. What she said was a lie, it's absolutely false and the very (former Speaker of the House Julian) Dominguez has made assurances he would come out and deny it", Massort told the radio programme El fin de la metafora.

"What Carrió has alleged is very serious. We did not expect it. It was difficult to imagine such a lie, but it isn't surprising coming from her. Argentines have had to deal with the worst version of Carrio in the last few years", Massot charged.

"She had value in opposition but she failed to adjust to the government's psoition. The difference between Monzó's constant sense of responsibility and Carrió's frequent imprudence is striking", he added, while listing off a number of accusations Carrió has made against Macri government officials and allies in the last four years.

On Monday, former speaker Julián Domínguez also took aim at Carrió, urging her to "not involve me in your coalition's infighting".

"I feel as though she has disrespected me", Domínguez, himself a lawmaker, said via Twitter.

-TIMES/PERFIL