The ruling coalition has chosen a presidential candidate
In Argentina, the center-left coalition in power since 2019 has chosen Economy Minister Sergio Massa for the October 22 presidential election.
Sergio Massa, a lawyer by training and former president of the Chamber of Deputies, was appointed head of the “super-ministry” of the economy almost a year ago.
AFP
Argentina’s Economy Minister Sergio Massa, a year-long firefighter with a badly weakened economy, will be the ruling center-left coalition’s sole candidate in the Oct. 22 presidential election, the coalition announced Friday.
Economy Minister Sergio Massa, 51, “our candidate for the presidency” from July 2022, announced the alliance on Twitter, renamed “Union for the Fatherland”, instead of “Front de Tous” from 2019.
The announcement came after several consultative meetings on Friday and the withdrawal of other pre-nominations, including those of Interior Minister Eduardo de Pedro launched earlier in the day and Ambassador Daniel Cioli, a former vice president for Brazil.
Severe unpopularity
It comes less than 24 hours before nominations close for primaries scheduled for August 13, and therefore avoids the ruling coalition, suffering severe unpopularity against a backdrop of out-of-control inflation (114% in twelve months). Get over this harmful internal competition.
The Union for the Fatherland expressed its “thanks” to Daniel Cioli and Eduardo de Pedro for “choosing the unity of Peronism”, referring to the vast and complex Argentine political scene, the successor to Juan Domingo Peron, who was president from 1946 to 1955. In 1973-74.
Agustin Rossi, 63, the current head of the Council of Ministers and close to outgoing President Alberto Fernandez, has announced the “ticket” led by Sergio Massa as its candidate for vice-president.
Many candidates on the right
The same unity is not currently in the opposition, where (center-right) 57-year-old Horacio Lauretta, mayor of Buenos Aires since 2015, and 67-year-old Patricia Bulrich, right-wing former defense minister under President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), are the front-runners at this point.
Sergio Massa’s name has been among potential presidential candidates for months after former state president and current vice president Cristina Kirchner ruled out running for re-election in May after Alberto Fernandez, who is leaving in April.
A lawyer by training, Sergio Massa was appointed head of the “Surface Ministry” almost a year ago under the leadership of former Chief of Staff Cristina Kirchner in 2008-2009. Fever in the Argentine economy, three ministers in succession in one month.
“If Massa doesn’t take office, one more day we (the government, editor’s note) will have to flee in a helicopter,” later congratulated former regional development minister Jorge Ferraresi, referring to a virtue often attributed to Massa. Knowing how to manage fire. Really more “political” than technical, Sergio Massa had the huge task of tackling inflation while staying within budget pegs set by the International Monetary Fund.
IMF satisfied
The IMF and Argentina, Latin America’s third-largest economy, reached an agreement in early 2022 to refinance Argentina’s massive debt, a legacy of a $44 billion loan from the Washington institution contracted by the Macri government in 2018.
Sergio Massa repeatedly appealed to the Fund for “decisive actions” and increased budgetary discipline (a deficit of 2.4% of GDP in 2022, against the 2.5% set by the IMF). Unable to control inflation, prevent the regular depreciation of the peso against the dollar, or avoid social backsliding, poverty remains at nearly 40%.
A key senior civil servant under the Kirchner presidency, he defected to found a centrist party, the Front Renovation, for which he ran for president in 2015, coming 3rd behind the liberal Macri and candidate Peronist Daniel. Seoul. Sergio Massa has moved closer to the Peronist core since 2019, managing to keep the ear of 70-year-old Cristina Kirchner, an extremely dominant figure in the left-wing political scene and the undisputed leader of the Peronist current.
AFP
Did you find an error?Please let us know.
“Avid gamer. Social media geek. Proud troublemaker. Thinker. Travel fan. Problem solver.”