Peronists set to dominate divided Congress

While all eyes are on the presidential elections in Argentina, the race for the country's Congress is key to understanding what policy scenarios the next government will face.

Friday's confirmation of final candidacies drew much attention, particuarly because of the power that some Peronist governors had threatened to wield to ensure their nominations were given better position on ballots than La Cámpora youth movement's.

The country's next president will face a divided legislature. In this sense, the diverse expressions of Peronism in Congress are expected to operate in a way that complicates the simple passage of legislation.

The main election will take place on October 27 when 130 Lower House and 24 Senate seats are decided.

President Mauricio Macri's Juntos por el Cambio alliance is hoping that the country's social-political polarisation will play into its hands during the August 11 primaries, where only a handful of mainly Peronist alliances will compete for final nominations.

If that happens, the coalition could secure more Lower House seats than it did in the October 2015 elections.

Optimists in Juntos por el Cambio believe they could end up with 110 of their own legislators in the Lower House, bringing them closer to the 129 needed for quorum, where Peronists lawmakers who respond to their province's respective governors will be key to deciding policy.

The Senate is a tougher race for the Macri administration. However, the president's running mate Miguel Angel Pichetto, who if he wins will act simultaneously as Speaker of the Upper House, could easily negotiate majorities.

Peronists responding to presidential hopeful Alberto Fernández are less concerned about 2019's possible electoral outcomes. They believe that under Fernández, the different Peronist tribes could easily unite to form majorities.

-TIMES/PERFIL