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OPINION AND ANALYSIS | 24-04-2023 12:41

Milei sees fragmented opposition and moves closer to Bullrich

Javier Milei observes fragmentation in the opposition Juntos por el Cambio coalition and believes he can reach an agreement with Patricia Bullrich, should he make it to the run-off.

In the race for the Casa Rosada, Javier Milei is closely watching the political chessboard. He knows that the two main coalitions are fragmented and that he can count on the support of Juntos por el Cambio hopeful Patricia Bullrich, if he makes it to the ballot. 

Milei and his team believes that the opposition should move towards an ideological reordering. With this concept in mind, the libertarian lawmaker and his main leaders observe that the opposition alliance that brings together the PRO, the UCR and the Civic Coalition is going through its worst moment, with allies clashing over opposing ideas. In this sense, Milei and his team separate the hardliners, who are committed to reducing the role of the state in order to generate freedom for the market (Bullrich, Mauricio Macri and Miguel Ángel Pichetto), from the "dialogue-minded" members of Juntos por el Cambio (Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and Elisa Carrió).

To illustrate the state of affairs, one leader of La Libertad Avanza told Perfil that "you only have to look at the parties in the provinces, they appear to be broken." Against this backdrop, Milei stresses to his followers that "you can't just make a pact to win an election.” Furthermore, the presidential hopeful is confident he can forge a political agreement with Bullrich, the former security minister of the Cambiemos era, if necessary. If he lands in the second round of the presidential ballot.

The bond between Milei and Bullrich is growing on several levels. One is personal, a relationship that has been cultivated in recent times through messages, especially in heated moments, such as the recent moment when Alberto Fernández compared the lawmaker to Hitler. At that moment, the libertarian received a message from Bullrich via a tweet, a gesture for which he was grateful. The other level is based on ideas – with the exception of dollarisation, both leaders are in favour of key reforms to reduce public spending and have the same vision on security, among other things. Of course, in the short term, they will not share the same space: the PRO presidential pre-candidate has already announced that she will not break with Juntos por el Cambio.  

The relations between the two are also developing in the City. Last week, local deputies Oscar Zago, from La Libertad Avanza, and Juan Pablo Arenaza, one of Bullrich’s most trusted people and from Juntos por el Cambio, joined forces to deliver a message to Rodríguez Larreta, promoting a bill in which they ask for the upcoming elections to all be paper ballots.

Juan Pablo Kavanagh

Juan Pablo Kavanagh

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