Peronists score big in San Juan, Misiones elections

A comfortable win in Corrientes province's mid-terms for a Mauricio Macri ally seemed insignificant in comparison to the striking losses the President's candidates suffered in San Juan and Misiones, provinces which also went to the polls on Sunday.

Peronist Governor of San Juan province, Sergio Uñac, was comfortably reelected in his province, securing 55.8 percent of the vote. Second was Frente Con Vos candidate Marcelo Orrego, a former provincial mayor, followed by the candidate for Macri's Cambiemos coalition Martín Turcumán in third.

The result for the national government was even worse in Misiones province, where Cambiemos candidate Humberto Schiavoni secured just 17.20 percent of the vote. Incumbent mayor Hugo Passalacqua, who on a nationally level responds to Sergio Massa's Renewal Front, took a whopping 73.21 percent of the vote.

In San Juan, Uñac, the star Peronist governor, made the most of his win to urge for broader unity within the Peronist movement.

"I feel I have the responsibility to call on different sectors (of the Peronist movement) to have a dialogue about creating a broader coalition of Peronists. I would be interested in a primaries contest between Alberto Fernández, Sergio Massa and Roberto Lavagna", he said.

Uñac's comments come as rumours swirl about the future of dissident Peronist Sergio Massa in the Alternativa Federal - a coalition he helped to found supposedly to overcome the polarisation among voters caught between the appeal of Mauricio Macri versus and president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. For his part, former Economy minister Roberto Lavagna has refused to participate in a primaries race.

"There is an existing formula, it's true", Uñac said of the coupling of Alberto Fernández for president and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for vice-president. "But it's not enough; we need more soldiers to reach our goals" of defeating Mauricio Macri in the October presidential and general elections.

"Alberto Fernández can have a dialogue between different sectors (of the Peronist movement) and find a common ground. It's likely that this week we'll come together. I'd like to speak with him about what is left for us to do", Uñac said.