2023-11-20 03:39:17
There is a maxim in the movement founded by Juan Perón that Sergio Massa must be reviewing in these unfortunate hours: Peronism does not forgive defeats. Although this changing national scenario buried many rules and several policy manuals.
Massa – a staunch optimist – must be thinking about exceptions to the rules to have some role in the next PJ, after a defeat by beating. Losing by a wide margin against the ultra-liberal Javier Milei -backed by Mauricio Macri, his declared enemy- is a hard setback for what was an ascending political career.
The Minister of Economy had achieved an important achievement: going to the second round, despite the red numbers of his administration.
“Entering the runoff in this economic context is a feat for Sergio. Reaching this definition gives it a political future,” argued a massista a few days after the October 22 elections.
It won’t be that simple. The extensive defeat raises questions about this optimistic political conclusion.
Last night, when recognizing the victory of the opponent Milei, Massa gave some indications about his immediate future.
“Today a political stage in my life ends. Know that you will always count on me defending the values of federalism, work and public education,” she assured.
Thus he gave the first traces of what is coming for him: standing in the opposition of the new government, in which his archenemy Macri will have a lot of influence.
Given the reports that he would ask for leave, Massa himself clarified last night that his decision depends on the meeting scheduled for today between President Alberto Fernández and Milei.
Massa cannot blame anyone for being the official candidate of a government adrift.
He agreed to take over the Ministry of Economy on August 3 of last year. And in June 2023 he pushed to be the official presidential candidate, when Cristina Kirchner had put one of her favorites on the field: Interior Minister Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro.
Massa spoke with Peronist governors to convey to them that he wanted to be the candidate of a government that was going through a deep crisis. The former mayor of Tigre bet big, when many around him asked him to preserve himself for the future.
What’s coming
The powerful vice president gave in to pressure from the governors and, after a brief and little-known negotiation over the secretive Telegram network with President Alberto Fernández, accepted that Massa was the official candidate.
In the PJ, the readings are never linear. The first conclusion is that along with Massa, the ruling party also lost, in which Cristina Kirchner has a leading role.
The hard data shows that. But, as you know, in politics cold numbers never explain everything.
For example, in the Union for the Homeland alliance, the one who came out better is the re-elected Buenos Aires governor Axel Kicillof, a leader of the vice president’s kidney. Many Kirchnerists say that the former president will give Kicillof political prominence.
However, rather than becoming a reference for the national PJ, Kicillof has a greater challenge: governing the country’s main province, and the most subsidized, with a president who is not a Peronist and who, in addition, promised to reduce subsidies.
Massa must rebuild his future. He will start at a disadvantage compared to Kicillof and other governors, such as Martín Llaryora from Cordoba, who want to discuss what is coming in Peronism.
In this context, the Tigrense will have to appeal to their resilience to survive in a match that does not forgive defeats.
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