Argentine politics is starting to rev up ahead of the 2027 election race. With just over a year left for Argentines to choose their next president at the polls, the ruling party led by Javier Milei is seeking support to pave the way for his re-election. After months of distancing, former president Mauricio Macri has reconnected with Milei through his powerful sister, Karina, who is responsible for the preparation of the electoral lists. Peronism, in opposition since late 2023, signed a fragile truce in recent hours with a common goal: to stop an electoral reform that contemplates the elimination of the primary elections in which their candidate is defined.
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Macri and Karina Milei reopened dialogue with a phone call followed by an in-person meeting this Thursday at the Argentine Government headquarters between leaders of La Libertad Avanza (LLA) and Macri’s Pro party. An electoral agreement between the two parties would strengthen Milei’s chances, who maintains an advantage in the polls despite the recent decline in popular support due to the lack of expectations for short-term economic improvement and the rejection of alleged corruption cases looming over his government.
According to the latest Opinaia survey, 55% of Argentines plan to vote for Milei or might do so, 17 points more than those willing to choose a Kirchnerist candidate. An electoral alliance with Pro would reinforce that advantage and complicate an opposition victory that would divert the ultra government’s economic course: macroeconomic stability, legal security, incentives to attract international investments, import openings, and an increasingly reduced state.
At the same time, the ruling party is also holding talks with several provincial governors seeking electoral agreements for next year in about a dozen provinces. In an unprecedented situation in Argentine history, LLA won the presidency in 2023 without any provincial governor.
Looking ahead to 2027, the great territorial battle will be for the governorship of Buenos Aires province, the largest and most populous in Argentina, currently held by Peronist Axel Kicillof. LLA inaugurated this Thursday the opening of the local office that will be the base of the Buenos Aires campaign, and one of its strongmen in the province, Sebastián Pareja, pointed to the current Chief of Cabinet, Diego Santilli, as Milei’s probable candidate to face Kicillof.
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Tripartite summit in Peronism
Peronism, especially Kirchnerism, has been the main opposition force to Milei in recent years, but it is mired in internal divisions it cannot resolve, reducing its chances of returning to power next year. Kicillof, deputy Máximo Kirchner, and former presidential candidate Sergio Massa, leaders of three major currents within Peronism, met Wednesday night to smooth over differences.
Their priority is to stop the electoral reform with which Milei’s government wants to eliminate mandatory primary elections, modify the financing of political parties, and establish voting through a single paper ballot. Without primaries, Peronism would lose a tool to resolve its differences at the polls, and forming an opposition alliance would become complicated.
“Those who support the elimination or suspension of the PASO will have to take responsibility for helping Milei have four more years of this hell for the people,” said one participant in the Peronism meeting to the newspaper Página 12. The message was directed at Peronist governors from northern Argentine provinces who usually collaborate with the ruling party in Congress, such as Osvaldo Jaldo (Tucumán), Raúl Jalil (Catamarca), and Gustavo Sáenz (Salta).
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