A formal breakup of the ruling coalition was avoided. But at what cost?

ARGENTINA - In Brief 20 Sep 2021 by Esteban Fernández Medrano

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On September 20, at 4 pm BA time, President Alberto Fernandez (AF)accepted the oaths of office of the new ministers who emerged after the abrasive negotiations he held with the Kirchnerists, and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) in particular.Both sides had to give in regarding their initial expectations, and neither came out of the negotiations unbruised. But with this agreement, the institutional crisis that kept the Argentine society in suspense regarding the survival of the ruling coalition and the potential impact on the presidential mandate has come to an end. At least for now. No later than the mid-term elections, on November 14th, the ruling coalition will surely revalue the performance of the cabinet members and the course of action in economic policy decisions.But despite this “victory” for the coalition´s survival, the damage to the integrity of Frente de Todos (FdT) was significant. The public confirmation that both coalition partners do not agree on basic aspects of the economic program and the mutual deterioration of trust makes this a rather pyrrhic victory. Over the last week, the president had to endure the public humiliation of seditious audios against him from a Kirchnerist congresswoman, and the open letter of CFK, both demanding, in different tones but still in unison, AF´s subordination to the Kirchnerist cause, arguing that AF is little more than a tenant of the political capital of CFK. In addition, AF had to accept that the Interior Minister “Wado” de Pedro, CFK´s main representative in the Cabinet, remains in his post. He was the first, following the vice-president's orders, to make it public, even before letting AF know, that he put his re...