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Buenos Aires (AFP) – The mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, launched this Thursday into the presidential race of Argentina, announcing that he will compete for the candidacy of the center-right opposition coalition ‘Juntos’ in the August primary elections.
Argentina will hold the first round of the presidential elections on October 22, with a possible second round on November 19.
“I want to be a good president,” Buenos Aires mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta said Thursday in a recorded message in which he called to “end hate and start a great transformation.”
Rodríguez Larreta, 57 years old and mayor since 2015, will have to compete within his space ‘Republican Proposal’ (PRO) with other political figures who aspire to obtain the candidacy, including the former Minister of Security and president of the PRO, Patricia Bullrich, and the former governor of Buenos Aires, María Eugenia Vidal.
The center-left president Alberto Fernández, whose term will end on December 10, said he was “willing” to seek re-election for the Peronist ‘Frente de Todos’, but has not yet formalized his candidacy.
His Government has suffered the wear and tear of an economy hit by inflation that closed 2022 at 94.8%, a record for the last 32 years.
In the ruling party, the vice president and two-time president Cristina Kirchner (2007-2015) publicly desisted from seeking the presidency or any other elective position after being sentenced for corruption last December in the first instance to 6 years in prison and political disqualification.
However, sectors of the ruling party promote a review of that decision.
The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, could also launch his postulation if he manages to improve the economic situation, especially inflation.
The former right-wing president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), the main referent of the PRO, maintains the unknown about his participation as a pre-candidate in the primaries.
The Radical Civic Union (social democrats), an ally of the PRO in the ‘Together’ coalition, has not defined candidates either.
In addition to electing president and vice president for a period of four years, Argentines will renew in the elections half of the Chamber of Deputies, with 257 members, and a third of the Senate, with 72 members.
If no presidential formula obtains 45% of the votes or 40% with a difference of at least 10 points from the second, a second round will be held.
