STEP without trainee starts to define two country models

The dispute between Macri and Alberto Fernández focuses attention, although there are 10 candidates; the result will guide the way to the October Generals

Nearly 34 million Argentineans have the right to vote today in

open primaries,

simultaneous and compulsory
STEP), the first and transcendent election year of the decisive year, which will define the authorities of the country for the next four years.

Without internal rivals, the ten presidential and vice presidential candidates formally strive to exceed 1.5% of the register, which allows them to participate in the general elections of October. But they will do so in a highly polarized scenario with an uncertain end between Together for Change, led by the president.
Mauricio Macri and his vice-candidate,
Michelangelo Pichetto, and the opposition Frente de Todos, which has as plaintiffs
Alberto Fernandez for president and at
Cristina Kirchner as a formula companion. The duo not only represents different strengths, but also offers very different business models, institutional views and foreign policy strategies.

The ruling party and the opposition will have a clear road map of their strengths and weaknesses for the 27 October Generals. The difference is not only essential, but their distance from the 45% required to win the first round elections will also be crucial. And the result will be followed closely by the markets, which will deliver their verdict tomorrow on the price of the dollar and shares.

In a difficult struggle to break polarization and "crack" at the national level, a federal consensus is launched, which takes the formula Roberto Lavagna-Juan Manuel Urtubey. Without Mbada, Pichetto or Juan Schiaretti, who were part of his core of original allies, Lavagna tries to get support from the sectors of dissident peronism, socialism and GEN, by Margarita Stolbizer. His performance will be closely followed by Casa Rosada, as well as by that of José Luis Espert (Awakening Front), which will demand the vote of those who are disenchanted with the government. The left, meanwhile, tries to maintain its usual flow of votes with the formula of Nicolás del Caño, who has managed to unify much of the left under the seal of the FIT, while Juan José Gómez Centurión will fight to overtake the minimum number of votes (NOS), José Antonio Romero Feris (Autonomous), Raúl Albarracín (Neighborhood Action), Manuela Castañeira (MAS) and Alejandro Biondini (Patriot Front), also candidates for the presidency.

Macri has led a campaign focused on 70 urban centers and provincial capitals, whose middle clbad vote is a priority. The central call was "not to return to the past" which embodies Kirchnerism and to highlight the "achievements" of its management in public works, freedom of the press, the fight against corruption and drug trafficking . For him, voter turnout is key, that is why, in the last section, he asked people to attend the polls. In 2015, Macri grew a lot between PASO and the general, because most of those who joined him voted for him.

On the side of Kirchnerism and parallel campaigns, Fernández and Kirchner focused their efforts on the bad economic situation, inflation, stagnation and the rise of unemployment and poverty. In recent days, the opposition has questioned the "transparency" of the count and has charged the inks of the company Smartmatic, in charge of the provisional control.

In Buenos Aires, the main battle of the day will be played. The governor María Eugenia Vidal, who seeks to be reelected with her current vice, the radical Daniel Salvador, goes along with the formula adopted by the former Minister of Economy Axel Kicillof, who, according to various polls, would have the opportunity to take advantage nowadays. The degree of elimination of the official ballot – Vidal, the highest figure of Together for Change, measures better than Macri in the province – will be decisive for the final result.

The president of the government of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, is facing a different and much more favorable scenario. The latter will seek another four years of government. Reinforced by the expansion of its space – the radicals of Martín Lousteau, who will be the first national senator candidate of the district, joined shortly before the closing of the lists – Larreta is facing certain prospects of victory. An opposition centered on the Matías Lammens, president of San Lorenzo, and notably the Kirchnerism and the progressive referents, such as Fernando Solanas and Victoria Donda.

In addition to the presidency, 24 Senate seats and 127 seats will be set up in the Chamber of Deputies, which will give the new leadership a role of government or non-governance. The PASO tool, absent from the Presidents and Vice category, will also be little used in this section: there will be only 38 inmates in 17 provinces. Yes, there will be many trainees at the level of the mayor in the province of Buenos Aires. The official list of the House of Representatives will be led by Cristian Ritondo, who will face Sergio Mbada, who lists on his list various representatives of La Cámpora, including Máximo Kirchner, son of the former president, who occupies the fifth place. place.

Today, he will also be elected governor in Santa Cruz, between Alicia Kirchner and radical Eduardo Costa, with a complex system of slogans that can delay the count. Moreover, in Catamarca, there will be trainees for the governor.