City of Buenos Aires’ mayor and head of Pro party Mauricio Macri announced he will seek for re-election in the city’s gubernatorial elections, thus giving up his presidential aspirations.
“I strongly believe I can do my best contributing to the country through the City of Buenos Aires. I only ask of you your support in the re-election challenge”, said Macri in a stadium from Villa Pueyrredón on Saturday.
Macri is the fifth frustrated presidential candidate and he now enlarges the long list of politicians who have resigned presidential elections: Julio Cobos, Ernesto Sanz, Mario Das Neves and Fernando Pino Solanas, who will also run for the city’s gubernatorial elections.
However, the head of Pro party anticipated his political platform is willing to negotiate with presidential candidates Ricardo Alfonsín and Eduardo Duhalde. The latter later announced that an alliance with Macri would be a “natural progression”.
A city’s minister explained daily La Nación that “two months ago we started to see that Cristina Fernández de Kichner [president] was leading polls and that if she was to go on a second ballot, she would win all the same. That was when we began to consider a second term in the city”. This decision was also triggered by the internal conflict in the Federal Peronist Party, Chubut’s gubernatorial elections scandal and Macri’s lack of candidate for vice-presidency.
Macri called for “opposition unity” during his speech. He argued “we still need to get to a certain level of dialogue and reject fighting”, while he regarded his candidacy for re-election as an “instrument for national unity”.
Better that he run for re-election in the city. His image has always been vague to the country and the government has constantly tried to make this image worse,(at tax payer expense.) The opposition is doomed anyway….