MADRID, 23 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The results of the presidential elections in Argentina have left Together for Change, a banner of the traditional right, out of the second round and now forced to choose for the final round between two figures who have always been considered a threat: the Peronist Sergio Massa symbolizes For the conservatives, all the evils of Kirchnerism and the far-right Javier Milei represents a threat in the future if he manages to consolidate himself as a standard bearer of change.
The August primary elections had drawn a triple tie between the three main forces, but finally the balance has clearly tilted on the side of Massa, from Unión por la Patria, and Milei, from La Libertad Avanza (LLA), who won the 36 and 30 percent of the votes, respectively, and they will face each other on November 19 to see who receives the keys to the Casa Rosada.
The third in contention, the Together for Change candidate, Patricia Bullrich, fell below 24 percent. “Our cause goes beyond an electoral moment and a moment of defeat,” she declared, although the truth is that in the short term voices have already emerged demanding a clear positioning for the second and final electoral round.
Massa, who has campaigned completely outside the figure of the current Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, even without mentioning him in his first speech after the polls closed, has reached out to the voters of the Left Front (FIT) and of We Do for Our Country (HxNP) and has expressed his desire to form a “unity government.” He wants to convene “the best, regardless of their political strength, not on the basis of partitocratic agreements.”
The current Minister of Economy has avoided appealing to Bullrich’s side, which Milei has instead addressed: “The choice before us is very clear, either we change or we sink.” “I am willing to shuffle and give again to end Kirchnerism,” he said, in a call to “work together” against what he described as “a criminal organization.”
Among the leaders who are now being looked at with a magnifying glass is former president Mauricio Macri, who appeared alongside Bullrich and now aspires to meet with other members of his party to try to make a decision, according to sources cited by the newspaper ‘Clarín’. Macri shares some of Milei’s theses and does not hide his animosity towards Massa, but at this point a common message seems difficult.
Macri, in fact, already suggested during the campaign that if Milei won the elections, the conservative bench should support reforms that were “reasonable” to overcome the “cheating system”, statements that Bullrich was forced to come forward with. step making it clear that it was not the time to enter into discussions about what could happen in the future.
For his part, the mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, from Together for Change, is considered a friend of Massa and the historic leader Facundo Suárez Lastra has made it clear on social networks that “we must start again.” “Don’t count on me to vote for Milei,” he proclaimed.
