As rumblings about Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's candidacy in October's presidential elections intensify, President Mauricio Macri's Cambiemos (Let's Change) coalition is caught up in a nasty public spat about last Sunday's elections in Córdoba province.
Leading the charge against the Macri administration following Cambiemos' poor performance in Córdoba is lawmaker Elisa Carrió, the leader of the coalition's third largest party Coalición Civíca, who on Tuesday said some of her colleagues "disgusted" her.
Eye-witness reports from the hallways of Congress, reported by Perfil, also indicated that Carrió on Wednesday engaged in a heated argument with PRO Party leader in the Lower House Nicolás Massot, whom she described as a "son of a bitch", over his alleged disloyalty to fellow lawmaker Mario Negri's campaign for the governship of Córdoba.
Peronist incumbent Juan Schiaretti scored a landslide victory over a divided Cambiemos in Córdoba.
"I plan to discuss among Cambiemos leaders the difference between classic and humanist politics versus post-modern, deceitful and fallacious politics concerned only about success", Carrió said in a video published on Twitter.
"I never speculated about triumph or defeat. I never betrayed the humanists who understood we should always be togehter, despite our weakenesses", she charged, presumably in reference to her own perception that members of the national government, specificially Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio, abandoned allied candidates in the province.
Cambiemos was divided between rival candidates in the provincial elections after a schism pitted two candidates against each other. Mario Negri, who had Macri's endorsement, took 17.78 percent, while ex-Cordoba City mayor Ramón Mestre 10.94 percent of the vote. Peronists also took the mayoralty of the city of Córdoba for the first time since 1974.
"I supported the man who supported the (Macri) government and whom many people abandoned in this struggle. We should also reflect on what we own to Mario Negri," Carrió added.
FRIGERIO FIRES BACK
On Wednesday, Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio fired back at Carrió, suggesting "the insults and personal attacks are not appropriate for a political leader".
"People expect us to set an example", he said, during an interview with Canal 9.
"Cambiemos was not represented" in the Córdoba elections, he insisted. "Unfortunately... the Radicals went with Mestre and the PRO's structure went with Negro, but Cambiemos was not part of the options", he said.
-TIMES/PERFIL
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