THE Sergio MassaArgentina’s economy minister, the balancer and firefighter who took over a year ago to manage the fragile economic situation in the Latin American country, will be the “unifying” candidate of the ruling center-left alliance in the presidential election to be held on October 22, he announced yesterday Friday the faction via Twitter.

Sergio Massa, 51, economy minister from July 2022, will be “our presidential candidate,” Unión por la Patria (“Union for the Fatherland,” as the “All Front” has renamed itself) said.

The announcement was made after a series of meetings yesterday and the withdrawal from the race of other potential candidates, such as that of Interior Minister Eduardo “Uado” de Pedro the previous day, or the former vice president and current ambassador to Brazil Daniel Scioli.

The decision was announced 24 hours before the August 13 nomination deadline for internal party processes, and prevents the ruling faction, whose popularity is falling due to takeoff inflation (114% in twelve months), from experiencing tough competition which would do her particular political damage.

The Union for the Fatherland expressed “gratitude” to Daniel Scioli and Vado de Pedro “because they chose the unity of Peronism,” referring to the broad and complex stream claiming the legacy of Juan Domingo Peron, president from 1946 to 1955, then 1973-1974.

The alliance clarified that the Agustin Rossi63 years old, current prime minister, a close associate of outgoing president Alberto Fernandez, will be the vice-presidential candidate on the “ticket”, the ballot of Sergio Massa.

Unity does not yet exist in the conservative opposition, in which the mayor of Buenos Aires since 2015, the Horacio Lareta57 years old (center right), as well as the former Minister of Security, the Patricia Bullrich67 years old (right), are considered the main contenders for the anointing.

Sergio Mesa, who studied law, the former head of the cabinet (2008-2009) when the president was still Christina Fernandez, former president of the Parliament, Sergio Massa took over a year ago as “prime minister”, when there was a fever in the markets and the political scene of the country and three ministers changed within a month. If he had not taken over, “we would have left in a helicopter”, commented former Minister of Development Jorge Ferraresi at the time, referring to him who is often called a fireman in the management of the country’s economy.

More politician than technocrat in reality, Mr. Massa took on the daunting task of tackling inflation while staying within the suffocating confines of the International Monetary Fund’s program.