​Massa’s very explicit “implicit support” for Macri

ARGENTINA - In Brief 29 Oct 2015 by Esteban Fernández Medrano

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Without mentioning Macri or Alianza Cambiemos,.Sergio Massa expressed yesterday UNA’s positions ahead of the ballotage on November 22nd. Throughout the press conference, Massa and his main political allies, such as De la Sota and Lavagna, made it clear that they would not support the official candidate Scioli, therefore implicitly supporting Macri. Massa emphasized the semantic difference that a ballotage is not about “choosing” but “selecting” (whatever is left). That the voters have in majority opted in the last general election for a change rather than for continuation and that UNA will therefore strive for such change. As might have been expected, UNA prioritized its anti-K position more than an abstract Peronist party discipline. Yet he is aware that some UNA Peronist will have a hard time voting Macri. In that sense Massa pointed out that they are not the owners of the votes they received and that they are not interested in participating directly in the government with Macri. I.e. they are not looking for government positions, but rather to work in the Congress for the needed change. Of course this does not mean that eventually some ministries (such as foreign affairs) might be offered to individual UNA leaders. But at the time being Massa seems more to be working in transforming UNA into the next Peronist hub, with the intention to collect the pieces if the Kirchnerist loose. Massa is also aware than Macri will eventually need all political support he can get in the Congress and that there relies his long term negotiating power. In any case, Massa’s statements are in line with our base case scenario of political support to Macri ahead of the ballotage. It theref...