Graduates. A doctor votes in the faculty of 60 and 120 / Sebastián Casali
On the first post-pandemic election day, the 17 faculties of the National University of La Plata (UNLP) were preparing for elections that, in general, are usually calm: those that every four years summon graduates, heads of practical work (JTP) and qualified assistants to elect their representatives on the boards of directors and the Superior Council. But the friction and requests to challenge one of the four lists that compete for that cloister in Medicine shook the drowsiness yesterday morning. Meanwhile, there were complaints about problems with registration.
Very early, a cross between the young radicals of the “Graduates for Change” List and the reformists of “University Convergence” (ex-militants of the Purple Strip who present themselves as the “only” proposal openly opposed to the management of Medicine, the Ministry of Health and the IOMA) tensed the beginning of the elections. It all started with a size problem in the “Graduates for Change” ballots that, as reported in “Convergence”, did not meet the required dimensions and were “bigger” than what was established by the Electoral Board. Then, from the list that among its candidates includes Dr. Andrés Echazarreta, they asked to annul the contested ballot, which was finally exchanged around noon for another that respected the corresponding measures. All in the middle of an electoral process that required the presence of a notary public to verify the irregularity noticed.
Facing the scrutiny on Friday, when the elections close, from “Convergence” they reinforced: “We understand that ballots of different sizes of ‘Graduates for Change’ would appear and that is null and void, so there are votes that should not be accepted ”. The fact -by which the Electoral Board of Medicine should eventually resolve and which could escalate to the Central Board of the UNLP- is not minor, since it could impact the final scrutiny of an election in which the Peronists of ” For Comprehensive Health” (close to the Buenos Aires health portfolio) and the “Front of Graduates”, which are made up of leaders of the Platense Medical Association and which, according to different versions, would have the support of leftist groups. Meanwhile, the ruling party that responds to Dean Juan Ángel Basualdo Farjat is presented with the “Academic Consensus” list only for the JTP category.
trouble voting
In another order, complaints came to this newspaper from graduates who wanted to cast their vote yesterday in the academic unit of 60 and 120 and could not do so despite having registered. Among them was the health doctor Raúl Pistorio, a historic radical leader who in the 1960s knew how to lead the Center for Medical Students and the University Federation of La Plata (FULP), but yesterday, when trying to pay, he could not: “It is the first time it happens to me. They didn’t even let me enter the Faculty”, he lamented and that, after noticing that he had been “deleted” from the list, he registered “through a notary public in the AMP, but they didn’t let me”. In addition, Pistorio assured that his case is not the only one: “Several like me who registered in the AMP could not vote and in the Faculty no authority gave us an explanation. It’s a shame,” the doctor concluded. It should be noted that EL DIA contacted spokesmen for Medicine to clarify the situation, but there was no response.
Dispute in seven faculties
The elections that started yesterday at the UNLP mark the kickoff of a process that will continue throughout the month with the faculty, non-teachers and students until culminating in the elections of deans and, finally, in the Assembly that will elect the President of the College.
On the way to that instance, in addition to Medicine, the Graduate elections present disputes in seven other faculties: Agronomy, Law, Astronomy, Psychology, Exact, Natural and Architecture. In the rest there is a single list.
In Agronomy, the struggle is between the “Independent Graduates for Integration” (radicals/Pro, close to the Deanship) and “Collective Construction”, a group linked to Kirchnerism that denounces the academic ruling party for having set up polling places in places other than the UNLP.
In Law, the “Reformist Pluralist Unit” (Association of lawyers, radicals and former Purple Strip) will fight for votes with the “Front of United Graduates” (La Cámpora and with the support of the Ministry of Justice).
In Exactas, the official “Diex” (La Cámpora) will face “Exactas al Frente”, which brings together various opposition spaces.
In Naturales, the contest will be between “Participation” (official linked to the Rector’s Office) and “Construction”, closer to Kirchnerism.
Psychology will also be the scene of dispute (the official “Poiesis” will be measured with “Movement for Unity”); the Observatory (“Nucleo”, which responds to the Purple Strip, will go against “Conjunción”, referenced to INTI independents) and Architecture, where the certification will be between “University Reform” (linked to the ruling party and the Purple Strip) and “Convergence and Diversity”, which brings together sectors of Peronism and Guevarists.