Argentina’s PRO party, Javier Milei’s main ally in Congress, accused the government of being “authoritarian” in a communiqué on Monday for not including the 2025 budget on the agenda for the upcoming extraordinary sessions. The press release is the latest in a series of provocations between the party led by former president Mauricio Macri and the administration.

After Congress failed to pass his 2025 budget proposal, Milei once again decreed that the country would operate on its 2023 budget. This unprecedented second renewal of a prior budget means that the president will govern the country in 2025 with a financial plan approved in late 2022. 

“The exclusion makes their lack of dialogue evident, especially at a political time that calls for broad agreements,” the communiqué said. “This approach distances us from participative democracy and reinforces an authoritarian vision, in which there is no room for debate or joint development.” 

The press release celebrated the anti-graft proposal known as Ficha Limpia, which made it into the agenda, and concluded by suggesting a “joint working team between PRO and the ruling party” — a phrase that could upset the delicate balance between Macri and Milei at the start of an electoral year. Argentina’s 2025 legislative elections will renew half of the Lower House’s seats and a third of the Senate’s, while several provinces and Buenos Aires City will have local legislative elections separate from the national ones.

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However, the communiqué has sparked internal dissension as well, surprising key PRO members that include governors Rogelio Frigerio (Entre Ríos) and Ignacio Torres (Chubut), as well as Deputy Cristian Ritondo, who leads the party bloc in the Lower House.

According to sources close to Frigerio and Torres, neither were aware of the communiqué or its contents until after its publication, and both later objected to its release. One of the sources noted that Frigerio disagreed with the communiqué’s tone, adding that it later became the subject of debate in “internal chat groups from the party.”

A source close to Ritondo claimed he knew of an upcoming communiqué but not its contents. “It was written by the party’s communication team in agreement with Macri,” the official said.

The Macri-Milei relationship has fluctuated since the economist took to the campaign trail in 2023. The former president actively supported Milei after the PRO’s presidential candidate, Patricia Bullrich (now security minister), lost in the election’s first round. Both have expressed affection and heavy criticism for the other, floating a possible PRO-LLA alliance even as members of their respective coalitions have bristled at the suggestion.