The meeting is early June. maximum kirchner He goes through a few days of frenetic rhythm, with some political short-circuits with his own mother, and on the brink of an open war with Axel Kicillof. He feels in his bones -beyond what the polls tell him, in which he never trusted too much- that neither Sergio Massa nor “Wado” by Pedro they are in a position to lead a presidential ticket. He believes that Peronism is on the verge of making an electoral paper that will go down in history, with his family name engraved next to the defeat.
That is why some premises are set, not to win the contest but to at least avoid such a tough collision. One is to get his mother’s pet out of the Buenos Aires governor’s office, and the other is to put together a list of candidates for deputies, senators and councilors for the intern who is totally their own, of soldiers. ANDthe ghost of Diego Bossio -who entered as deputy K in 2015 but later made a tactical alliance with the Macrista government- persecutes him these weeks, and in fact he has been recounting his fears in every talk he has.
Therefore, at the beginning of June, Maximus crosses the Rubicon and holds a meeting, under strict secrecy, with some non-K Peronist priests, who today fall within the Sciolist camp. The central theme was to debate the terms of the PASO – with each list with its own candidates in all shortlists, in addition to a high floor in the D’hont system-, but also feel the spirit to assess whether an alliance for the province would be possible: from both sides of the new Peronist rift there is interest in removing Kicillof from the Buenos Aires battle.
Although this alliance with that part of Peronism would not be successful in principle, it reveals how far the camporist leader is willing to go in his mission to make the governor the presidential candidate. At the close of this edition, from various tribes of the ruling party they understood that Máximo would end up achieving his objective. And if that were the case, it would open up big questions about those who until now had claimed that position. What will happen to Massa and De Pedro?
Tiger’s Eye
The Minister of Economy is another who barely manage to fall asleep. And he moves using all the political expertise that he accumulated in the last decades: he sends his bishops to tighten the rope, planting the idea that he would not continue in his position if there is an internal one, he declares the opposite in the congress of the Renovating Frontand while holding frantic meetings to insist on the idea of unity.
On Tuesday the 13th he said it again to CFK’s face, in a meeting they held in the Senate with De Pedro. But he doesn’t stop there. Under his breath, his soldiers continue to insist with the idea that the best possible candidate would be Massanot only to “calm the markets” for the day after STEP, but, above all, because it is the only one that could “broaden the base” for October.
It is that, although he did everything possible and more to lower the candidacy of Daniel Scioli -which led to that in that camp they complain daily about Massa’s “operettas”-, the man is already preparing for the internship and for the next day. “What happens to the votes of whoever loses in the PASO?” is a question that is repeated more and more in the corridors of Tigrense.
The fear is that Sciolist votes end up migrating to Together for Change in case the former motorboater loses. That is one of the unknowns, although the biggest is where Massa will end up on June 24, the day the lists close.
The climate is sensitive on this issue: close to Tigrense they are convinced that the thesis that the minister would end up leading the ticket of Buenos Aires senators – an idea that began to roll strongly at the beginning of the month – was launched from the camporismo usinas near Peter’s, as a ruse to kick him out of contention. They say that Massa himself, an expert in the give and take of politics, caught the play instantly and that he did not like it at all.
At press time, however, an idea was growing along with the possibilities in rise of Kicillof presidential candidate: the Tigrense as his successor in Buenos Aires, a place to which he historically escaped -he is convinced of the veracity of the thesis that indicates that no Buenos Aires governor can reach the Casa Rosada-, but that now could be his next destination. In fact, it is a proposal that Ruben Eslaiman, a Buenos Aires legislator from the Renewal Front, has been suggesting. There is still a lack, and above all, the maturities to the Fund at the end of June have yet to be paid. It’s a long game.
“Wadito”
De Pedro is the only one of the possible presidential candidates who does not work in the shadows and who has been showing his intentions to the public. In fact, he even starred in a fun spot with the actor Stephen Lamothe that went viral on the networks (see box).
However, in the payments of the Minister of the Interior they are closely following the pressure of Máximo de send Kicillof to the national. Although plan A is for De Pedro to be the candidate – who even added a possible vice president, Juan Luis Manzur from Tucumán -, there is an alternative underway.
It is that there are those who see that the man born in Buenos Aires, Mercedes, has an active plan for the province: in Peronism they note that most of the political meetings and contacts, and most of the efforts -such as public billboards and the reinforcement on social networks- is being done in Buenos Aires and in the special in the suburban. Is it a sign of something else or just a reaffirmation of the historic K hard core?
It is another mystery that will only be revealed on the 24th, but that combines with a reality that became evident after the meeting of the peronist governorswhere they signed a document that “demanded” that there be a unit candidate. This is a position contrary to the wishes of the Minister of the Interior, who needs the instance of the primary to “validate” his figure and to make it grow.
That idea had been transmitted to the governor of La Rioja, Ricardo Quintelawho had been the first to go out in public to push the candidacy of “Wado”, although later, in the conclave with his peers, the man from La Rioja reversed his statements and joined the majority position. In “wadism” some felt it as a betrayal, while a short circuit with the Tigrense appeared again on the horizon. There are several in this scheme who see Massa’s hand behind the pile of governors demanding a single candidate, a position that the CGT also came out to request on the closing of alliances. These are hectic days for everyone within the ruling party.
olive farm
On the other side of the crack, however, the waters are increasingly clear. In Scioli’s campaign, secretaries and officials of the Executive begin to appear, in addition to the ministers who already make up his payroll, such as Aníbal Fernández and Santiago Cafiero. Behind the hand of Alberto Fernández, who has been pushing the ambassador’s nomination and is hopeful with the numbers that come from the polls, such as the high ignorance that De Pedro still maintains or the negative image of Massa.
At this point, the President’s greatest political dream is to ensure that the former motanaut makes a sufficiently dignified choice so that he and all those who make up that space remain in a position of relevance within Peronism. That’s a fancy way of saying it, as he told ultra journalist K robert navarrothat what he wants most is to “end twenty years of Kirchnerism.”
Scioli, for his part, remains firm in his idea of competing. In his private life, and despite the injuries that were caused over the years, he agrees with Máximo: this election is surely lost, and the debate is about the conduct of Peronism in the future. That’s where the real fight is.
