DistantNews
Support us
🇦🇷 Argentina /Elections & Politics

Electoral reform: Diego Santilli steps up talks with governors in closed-door meetings

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Chief of Cabinet Diego Santilli has held private meetings with governors from northern and Patagonian provinces as the government prepares to begin congressional debate on electoral reform in about 10 days.
  • President Javier Milei’s government wants to abolish the mandatory open primaries known as PASO, rather than merely suspend them.
  • The negotiations now center on political and electoral agreements, including La Libertad Avanza’s plans in each province, while the Senate debate remains stalled.

Argentina’s government has accelerated its negotiations with provincial governors over electoral reform, shifting the talks from funding and public works to the political future of Javier Milei’s administration.

The government sent its reform bill to Congress shortly after Milei took office, including a proposal to abolish the PASO, the open, simultaneous and mandatory primaries. Discussions had been stuck since May, but the timetable tightened over the past week because officials want legislative consideration to begin in about 10 days.

The political question now dominating the talks is what La Libertad Avanza will do in each province. For the Casa Rosada, the central issue is Milei’s re-election. The government’s political leadership, headed by presidential secretary-general Karina Milei and Eduardo “Lule” Menem, decided that Senate committee discussions on electoral reform should begin alongside debate on the 2027 budget in the Chamber of Deputies. The budget bill is due to enter the lower house on the 15th of the month.

Chief of Cabinet Diego Santilli has held private meetings with governors from Patagonia and the northern provinces. Officials close to him are optimistic that the government can gather enough support to end the PASO, but the Senate’s continuing deadlock remains a challenge. The administration says it has the votes to suspend the primaries, yet insists that abolition is the real objective.

If the reform passes, Peronism would lose a mechanism for managing its internal contests. Catamarca Governor Raúl Jalil has already backed abolishing the PASO, while national officials are urging him to seek re-election, which would require a contested interpretation of the provincial constitution. Jalil instead appears focused on a possible Senate candidacy. Río Negro Governor Alberto Weretilneck also reaffirmed his position after meeting Santilli: “No suspension, abolition.” Weretilneck, however, has no senators or national deputies.

No suspension, abolition.

· Alberto WeretilneckThe Río Negro governor stated his position on the PASO proposal after meeting Diego Santilli.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog