With the deadline for the naming of forces creeping closer, Peronist leaders in Buenos Aires Province on Wednesday formalised a new electoral front, ensuring unity against a combined right-wing ticket grouping La Libertad Avanza and PRO.
The new Peronist alliance, named ‘Fuerza Patria,’ will ensure that the movement puts on a united front in the upcoming September 7 legislative elections as President Javier Milei’s government ramps up the pressure.
The agreement was sealed between Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof, deputy Máximo Kirchner and former economy minister Sergio Massa in what sources described as a tense meeting.
The signing of a document formally confirming the deal took place in the presence of the main party leaders and their respective representatives. Kicillof’s Movimiento Derecho al Futuro (MDF), the Buenos Aires Province branch of the Partido Justicialista and Massa’s Frente Renovador are all signatories.
Delegates from La Cámpora and other aligned groups also participated. The full list of signatories also includes Principios y Valores (led by Guillermo Moreno), Patria Grande (Juan Grabois), Kolina (Carlos Castagneto), Nuevo Encuentro (Martín Sabbatella), Partido de la Victoria, Partido Comunista, Partido del Trabajo y del Pueblo, Izquierda Popular, Nuevo Buenos Aires, Instrumento Electoral por la Unidad Popular, Partido Intransigente, Partido Federal and Libres del Sur.
The competing sectors have been negotiating privately since March in search of unity. But talks were accelerated at the beginning of the week when it emerged that President Milei’s La Libertad Avanza and former president Mauricio Macri’s PRO party were on the verge of announcing their own agreement.
Peronism’s plans were thrown into disarray when the Supreme Court last month confirmed a six-year jail term and lifetime ban on political office for former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who had declared she would head the Peronist ticket in the key third electoral district, the movement’s stronghold.
Negotiations are still ongoing as to who will replace Fernández de Kirchner, who is serving her sentence under house arrest, at the top of the ticket.
According to reports, Kicillof’s number two, Buenos Aires Province Deputy Governor Verónica Magario, is emerging as the leading candidate to head the ticket in the strategic region. Her name is said to have the backing of the three sectors that make up the new front.
Candidates must be confirmed by July 19.
Despite the formal closure, the unity sealed by the Peronist trident is far from solid. Internal differences persist, especially between Kirchnerism and Kicillof’s forces, over the decision to split the provincial elections. While Fernández de Kirchner's sector still criticises this strategy, in La Plata they defend it as a way of preserving Buenos Aires Province’s identity in the face of the libertarian advance.
Elsewhere, the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), Coalición Cívica, Partido Socialista, GEN, Hacemos, Partido del Diálogo, Nuevo País, Hacemos and other parties have agreed to run under the ‘Somos Buenos Aires’ banner, offering an alternative to the right and the unified Peronist slate.
The Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores – Unidad will offer a left-wing option for voters. Its slate will be headed in the third electoral district by Nicolás del Caño, according to reports.
– TIMES/PERFIL
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