Liliana Franco President Javier Milei met with deputies from his party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) and other allied forces at the Olivos presidential residence on Tuesday to outline strategy on how to face the upcoming challenges the government will face in Congress.
The topics discussed in the meeting, which began at 8 p.m., included upholding the presidential vetoes on bills aimed at raising pensions, extending the pension moratorium, and declaring a disability emergency. The government considers the vetoes essential due to the fiscal impact of these initiatives, and Milei needs to shield the vetoes in order to sustain the economic program.
Prior to the gathering in Olivos, part of the LLA leadership, among them Presidency Secretary Karina Milei, her right-hand, Eduardo “Lule” Menem, and advisor Santiago Caputo, met with PRO deputy Cristian Ritondo, head of the party’s Lower House bloc. The meeting lasted more than an hour and covered not only defending the government in Congress, but also the Buenos Aires province campaign ahead of the September 7 elections.
Milei is expected to lead a rally in La Plata for the provincial election, where LLA nominee Francisco Adorni, brother of spokesman Manuel, will compete as the party’s lead candidate in the district.
Ritondo spoke after the meeting in Casa Rosada. “We already had the presentation of the top eight candidates on the ticket in all electoral districts in Buenos Aires province. Now we are going to La Plata, which is part of the campaign events, where the president will attend to show his support,” he explained.
“We are going to win in Buenos Aires because the country chose a model, and now the province is going to choose it, centered around support for the president and his policies, which will bring Argentina back to normal,” he added.
According to Herald sister publication Ámbito, Chief of Staff Guillermo Francos will not be a candidate in the October midterms. “With all the work I have on my plate, I don’t want to waste time on an electoral campaign,” the minister said.
Milei and the governors
Another issue discussed in Olivos was the two governor-backed bills aimed at redistributing federal funds collected by the national administration among the provinces. The two bills have been approved by the Senate and are moving forward in the Lower House.
Milei is negotiating with provincial leaders to find a solution that spares him another legislative defeat or forces another veto. Case in point, Neuquén Governor Rolando Figueroa met with Francos at Casa Rosada on Tuesday.
The government is relying on the support of lawmakers who answer to provincial leaders with whom they signed alliances for the October elections. Such is the case of Alfredo Cornejo (Mendoza) and Leandro Zdero (Chaco), both from the UCR, or PRO leaders like Rogelio Frigerio (Entre Ríos) and Jorge Macri (CABA).
The open question is what will happen with the governors that formed the Provincias Unidas (United Provinces) electoral front, a sector that is not aligned with the Milei administration but is also not close to Kirchnerism. Among them are Maximiliano Pullaro (Santa Fe), Ignacio Torres (Chubut), Martín Llaryora (Córdoba), Carlos Sadir (Jujuy), and Claudio Vidal (Santa Cruz).