Former president Mauricio Macri said today that adding Córdoba governor Juan Schiaretti to the Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) coalition, a move pushed by Buenos Aires mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, “puts the entire [opposition] coalition system in a crisis”, and that a political leader on “a calm and confident path” wouldn’t suggest “changing the rules”.  

“I don’t understand [Rodríguez Larreta’s] decisions. We need to commit to a profound and hasty change, and have the courage to see it through. If we don’t do this, there’s no point in returning to power,” said Macri in an interview for Radio Mitre in Cordoba.  

A few hours before visiting the province governed by Schiaretti, the former president suggested Larreta’s decision of “expanding the space” could be connected to the bad polling results he is getting as a PRO candidate competing against Patricia Bullrich in the upcoming JxC primary elections (PASO) August 13. 

“If you are a leader who is calm and confident about the path you’re on, you don’t suggest changing the rules of the game,” Macri said. 

Macri will meet up today in Córdoba with Luis Juez, JxC’s candidate for governor in the provincial elections scheduled for June 25. He estimated those who look to bring Schiaretti into JxC are “unfamiliar” with the province. 

“Those who propose this are not familiar with the people of Cordoba. They don’t know us, because I consider myself a local here as well. What kind of commitment is there to the future? Based on what values? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: either we represent change or we are nothing,” said Macri, calling Larreta’s idea “disrespectful” to the electorate. 

The initiative promoted by Larreta and Jujuy governor and Unión Civica Radical president Gerardo Morales of bringing the Córdoba governor on board was strongly rejected by the JxC faction led by Bullrich, and was also harshly criticized by Juez, who yesterday showed up, uninvited, to the meeting of the JxC National Board in order to make his disagreement public.  

“We must have the nerve to break the status quo. All these things they are talking about sound like a piling up that blurs the JxC identity and the drive for renovation we need to maintain. This is a conflict that can be resolved with a meeting between Horacio (Rodríguez Larreta) and Patricia (Bullrich). Especially if someone wants to change the rules of the game we have in JxC,” Macri added.  

Télam