In the midst of the crisis that arose at the summit of the Argentine government on Monday (31), with the resignation of Máximo Kirchner as leader of the ruling bloc in Congress, President Alberto Fernández let slip, in one sentence, how his government actually works. : “There’s a point where I’m the president and I’m the one who has to make a decision.”
What did you mean by that? There is a point. On many other points, he is not the president, at least not in practice.
That’s what the numbers revealed in January by a survey by the Poliarquía institute say. For only 8% of the Argentines interviewed, who actually governs Argentina is Alberto Fernández. And for 28%, it is Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
It wouldn’t be a problem if both thought the same about important issues, or if there was dialogue and complementation on issues on which they don’t agree. Unfortunately, this is not so.
The subject of the moment is the agreement with the IMF. Announced on Friday, it still has details to adjust. the air
gentina would give little in terms of adjustments, although it will have to make them, it is committed to reducing monetary issuance and the fiscal deficit and, yes, it will have to pay, albeit with a shorter term, the US$ 44 billion it still owes. to the International Monetary Fund.
For Fernández, it was essential to signal that Argentina would not default again. The finance ministry and a solution to the IMF debt was how little he managed to keep under his direct control after the tremendous defeat the government suffered in last year’s legislative primaries. At the time, Cristina Kirchner put the brakes on her puppet candidate. She led a cabinet exchange in which Christian names prevailed against Albertists, the regional caudillos of the provinces against the technical cadres that the president had chosen.
Cristina didn’t speak to Fernández for months, blaming him for the wear and tear of the government caused by his mistakes, the one for allowing the first lady’s party in full quarantine, the scandal of the vaccine skipper, the chaos that was the wake from Maradona. Today, at Casa Rosada, both do not live together. Behind the scenes, it is said that ministers and advisers carry messages from one room to another, and there is a division of schedules so that they do not cross each other in the corridors.
Signs that the marriage is going badly, and almost breaking up, we have had many. The main one, in September of last year, when Cristina sent an open letter to Fernández to “remind him that he is only in the presidency” at her appointment. This time, instead of sending a letter, the spokesperson was the son of Cristina and Néstor, now a deputy from the ruling alliance. The message of mother and son is clear, Kirchnerism does not want the deal with the IMF. It doesn’t want adjustments because it weakens the mass of popular vote of Peronism, it doesn’t want to pay the fund because it goes against its ideological discourse and, more than that, perhaps, it doesn’t want the agreement because it strengthens Albertism within the Peronist government. It is important to remember that, while Cristina maintains the core of the Peronist voters, Máximo moves the youth involved in various organizations that promote demonstrations and public acts.
Oh, and the deal will have to go through Congress. In other words, in addition to convincing the opposition, it will be necessary to convince the Kirchnerist parliamentarians.
The scenario of Argentine politics is once again complicated, not because of a confrontation between parties or an indisposition with the opponents. But yes, because of a rift in Peronism itself. Alberto, more than ever, shows himself to be a kidnapped president.
In this context, the same research by Poliarquía shows that the opposition seems to just watch this spectacle. No board has more than 40% approval. Former President Macri has just over 22% of popularity and former governor Maria Eugenia Vidal, 35%.
Where the options for 2023 will come from remains a mystery.
Source: Folha
