‘PERONISM UNITED ONLY FOR THE ELECTION’

There was once talk of a league of governors, but today it would seem that the Peronist governors are divided into two leagues: one headed by Schiaretti and the other by Cabinet Chief Juan Manzur along with the other northwestern governors. Is Peronist unity more apparent than real?

Peronism united only for the election and not everywhere. I do not believe that it is united in ideological terms with Kirchnerism, nor in terms of future projects. This is an opportunity for Argentina to muster the two-thirds majority which is the minimum needed for a plan of sustainable development in the long term.

The worst thing for Argentina has been the permanent change of direction. That critical mass is needed to sustain the times of transformation. This government is basically composed of Kirchnerites and the Peronists who accompany them. It is not a unity of ideas or projects. From the opposition we are responsible for going out to look for those agreements with those who do not necessarily think as we do in every aspect but in four or five fundamental things we can arrive at consensus.

Analysts of a certain level criticise the scant regard of political scientists for two dominant aspects: demography and geography. In 2002 Buenos Aires Province was competing with the league of inland governors, the old idea of the hinterland against the port. PRO began as virtually a neighbourhood party of the City of Buenos Aires, then some town halls close to its frontiers and now it is nationwide. Meanwhile Kirchnerism has become a neighbourhood party of Greater Buenos Aires in a kind of geographic criss-crossing. Do you notice that difference with looking inward at the City or Province of Buenos Aires which has affected the outlook of both Juntos and Frente de Todos, or Kirchnerism and Peronism, as well as PRO?

Such introspection is very bad for the country and public policies. That is not just the heritage of Kirchnerism, we’ve suffered it too. Let me make the distinction between PRO and Juntos por el Cambio, something much more comprehensive. I see a coalition which is trying to be really federal.

Meanwhile Kirchnerism is increasingly inbred and confined to certain Greater Buenos Aires districts, as reflected by the electoral result, which in turn responded to the government’s lack of empathy with the hinterland and the most productive sectors of our country. I hope a more federal Juntos is sustained in time. It also needs a more federal leadership than the current, despite considerable advances in that direction.