With the deadline for presenting electoral lists expiring at midnight tonight, Kirchnerism on Thursday defined its presidential ticket: Interior Minister Eduardo ‘Wado’ de Pedro and outgoing Tucumán Governor Juan Manzur will face off within Unión por la Patria against Daniel Scioli, who on Wednesday had already secured the necessary endorsements to run.
At press time Cabinet Chief Agustín Rossi, social leader Juan Grabois, Claudio Lozano and Gabriel Mariotto were all potential hopefuls for the ruling coalition (formerly known as Frente de Todos) although Grabois has repeatedly said that he would step down if De Pedro were to stand.
Scioli had faced an uphill task because coalition regulations had obliged him to obtain guarantees from the often hostile allied parties including Frente Renovador, Frente Grande, Kolina, Partido para la Victoria and Nuevo Encuentro, as well as the Partido Justicialista, the mainstream Peronist force, but his threats to go to court unblocked opposition. He had yet to name his running-mate at press time with ex-Radical comedian Eugenio ‘Nito’ Artaza strongly tipped.
Juntos por el Cambio
Patricia Bullrich has picked her running-mate from Radical ranks, as expected, the little-known but tough-talking ex-deputy Luis Petri whom she found closest to her thinking.
The onus of picking a running-mate then lay with Buenos Aires City Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, locked in a bitter battle with Bullrich for the Juntos por el Cambio nomination although last week they adopted a common stance on the violence in Jujuy.
As confirmed by PRO sources to Perfil, he will be announcing his choice today, just a few hours before the deadline. Speculation that his choice will be Jujuy Radical Governor Gerardo Morales has continued to mount with the delay attributed to giving the dust time to settle.
Libertarians
La Libertad Avanza beat everybody to definitions with Javier Milei already naming fellow-deputy Victoria Villarruel as his running-mate in mid-May.
Leftists
The Frente de Izquierda y los Trabajadores – Unidad (FIT-U) leftists also have a presidential ticket: deputies Myriam Bregman and Nicolás del Caño, a former presidential candidate in 2019.
But it is not the only leftist list in the race – the Partido de los Trabajadores Socialistas (PTS), Izquierda Socialista, Partido Obrero (PO) and the Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores (MST) have all teamed up under Gabriel Solano and Vilma Ripoll.
Nuevo MAS have stayed out of this front, presenting a ticket of 2019 presidential candidate Manuela Castañeira and Neuquén teacher Lucas Ruiz.
Others
The only other party to confirm its presidential ticket is progressive slate Libres del Sur: Jesús Escobar, 52, an engineer from Neuquén, with Marianella Lezama Hid, an accountant from Santiago del Estero, as his running-mate.
– TIMES/PERFIL
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