Former president Mauricio Macri has become leader of PRO party he founded almost two decades ago for the very first time.
Macri, 65, assumes the presidency of the conservative force after reaching an agreement with outgoing party leader Patricia Bullrich, who is stepping down in the wake of her decision to join President Javier Milei’s government.
Officially known as Propuesta Republicana (“Republican Proposal”), PRO has been led in recent years by Bullrich, who unsuccessfully ran for Argentina’s Presidency in last year’s election campaign.
In December, she signed up with ex-rival Milei, the winner of last year’s vote, and agreed to serve in his cabinet as security minister – the post she held in Macri’s 2015-2019 Presidency.
Despite the historic role he played in PRO’s creation in 2005, Macri’s representatives were forced to negotiate with Bullrich’s team until the last minute. Talks between the leaders had stalled over names for second-line positions.
Local media outlets reported Tuesday that Vicente López Mayor Soledad Martínez, will be PRO’s first vice-president; with PRO lawmaker Demián Arabia as its second and Santiago del Estero Councillor Facundo Carletti Perez as third vice-president.
High-profile national deputy and ex-Buenos Aires Province governor María Eugenia Vidal, Chubut Province Governor Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Torres, Entre Ríos Mayor Rogelio Frigerio, Mayor of Tres de Febrero Diego Valenzuela and General Pueyrredon Mayor Guillermo Montenegro will serve on the party’s board of directors, with Bullrich named as chair of the party’s National Assembly.
Tensions between Bullrich and Macri have been strained since last year’s electoral defeat.
Macri, who has a good relationship with Milei, is said to have been put out by Bullrich’s decision not to consult him prior to joining the libertarian leader’s government.
Since losing last year’s election, Bullrich sought greater influence and to align PRO with the new government, a move that generated debate and discomfort within the party.
Underlining the tensions, both Vidal and ex-Buenos Aires City mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larretta withdrew from the running for key PRO posts in order to avoid holding party elections.
After arduous negotiations, Bullrich and Macri reached a consensus to present a “unity list” of candidates for key posts. After the ex-head of state vetoed some of her preferred names, she reportedly threatened to present her own slate unless her allies were accommodated.
The final agreement allows Martínez – who is aligned with Macri’s cousin, current City Mayor Jorge Macri – to assume the first vice-presidency. Arabia, who responds to Bullrich, becomes second vice.
Rodríguez Larreta’s future remains unclear. Tipped for much of the previous four years as a potential future president of the nation, his heavy loss to Bullrich in the Juntos por el Cambio coalition’s primary ahead of last year’s election has thrown the rug out from under him.
With PRO supporting Milei’s government in Congress and key party figures serving in the La Libertad Avanza leader’s administration, the former City mayor looks increasingly out of step with the rest of his party.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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