Updated Friday 1.30 p.m.

Ruling party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) and PRO formally announced on Thursday that they will run as a common electoral front for the 2025 national legislative elections. The news comes a little under a month after the two parties decided to run together for the Buenos Aires province local elections.

In a joint statement published on social media, they said that “both parties will work together until 2027” to back Milei’s reforms in Congress.

Parties have until Thursday at midnight to register their alliances and coalitions for the elections on October 26 as Argentine politics gears up for the most important electoral date of the year. Most sectors are in advanced negotiations and have even reached an agreement, but tensions and surprises could still arise.

After registering the alliances on Thursday, all coalitions will have until August 17 to file their candidate lists for the 23 provinces, plus Buenos Aires City.

LLA-PRO

Although not formal allies, Thursday’s announcement cements the political partnership between LLA and PRO that has been ongoing since the start of Milei’s government. 

Despite their closeness, the two parties have had many differences and were even on the brink of a breakup several times over the past year and a half. In May, they had a harsh standoff in the Buenos Aires City elections, with PRO’s leader Mauricio Macri and his cousin, BA City Mayor Jorge Macri, accusing LLA of sabotage.

Despite these differences, Jorge Macri has reportedly accepted Karina Milei’s proposal to give PRO the fifth and sixth spots in the list for national deputies from Buenos Aires City. Initially, LLA was offering them the sixth and seventh positions.

Just like what they agreed for the Buenos Aires province election, the tickets for the LLA-PRO national alliance will be purple — the color of LLA — and will only have LLA’s name on it.

Peronism

The chaos that reigned within Peronism as part of the alliance and candidate registration process in Buenos Aires province seems to be in the past. 

A Peronist source had told the Herald that the alliance between sectors led by BA province Governor Axel Kicillof, former Economy Minister Sergio Massa, and La Cámpora leader Máximo Kirchner, which was established for the provincial contest, will remain in place for October 26.

According to Ámbito, there are further negotiations with sectors led by former Domestic Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno and former senator Juan Manuel Abal Medina, who had decided to present their own tickets in the May BA City election.

Other alliances

With Milei openly challenging provincial governments since the start of his presidency over funding issues, five provincial governors from different political sectors decided to create a new electoral front with which they intend to compete in the October midterms. The alliance will run separately from the national-level party structures and will aim to develop a common agenda for provinces.

The governors included in the alliance are Ignacio Torres (Chubut), Martín Llaryora (Córdoba), Maximiliano Pullaro (Santa Fe), Carlos Sadir (Jujuy), and Claudio Vidal (Santa Cruz).

Another alliance that could potentially be announced soon is one made up by the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) and the Coalición Cívica, former coalition partners along with PRO in Juntos por el Cambio. After PRO decided to side with LLA, that coalition fell apart, and UCR, a formerly significant party in Argentine politics, was relegated to minor positions and circumstantial agreements with the government.

On Monday, the BA City chapter of the UCR weighed out their options ahead of the election, saying they would not accept “neither Libertarians nor Kirchnerists.”