The campaign for Argentina's 2027 elections has effectively begun, even before candidates are officially announced. President Javier Milei and former President Mauricio Macri are maneuvering on one side, while Axel Kicillof, Sergio Massa, and Cristina and Máximo Kirchner debate the future of Peronism. Politicians are already thinking about the ballot box, even as many citizens focus on making ends meet.
At the center of this political chess game is the debate over Argentina's PASO (Primarias Abiertas, Simultáneas y Obligatorias) — the open, simultaneous, and mandatory primary elections that determine each party's candidates. This isn't just an institutional matter; the electoral system can favor or harm each political force depending on their unity, number of candidates, and ability to mobilize voters.
The Government's Proposal: Eliminate PASO
Milei's administration has sent an electoral reform bill to Congress proposing the complete elimination of PASO. The argument is straightforward: primaries belong to political parties and shouldn't be funded by all taxpayers. The government points out that the 2023 national primaries cost $45 billion Argentine pesos and didn't resolve any significant competition.
However, the ruling party lacks the necessary majorities in Congress alone. This has sparked negotiations with Radical party members, PRO party leaders, provincial forces, governors, and even sectors of Peronism.
The Alternative: Optional PASO
Senator Eduardo Vischi from the Radical party (Corrientes province) has proposed an alternative: keep the primaries but make voting voluntary. His project also allows parties without internal competition to skip the process and sets a minimum participation threshold of 10% of the electoral roll.
This proposal raises more questions than answers. If voting is voluntary, how many citizens would participate in an election meant to sort out party candidates they may not even identify with? Likely, only party affiliates, militants, and voters with strong political identities would show up. The primary would remain legally open but could effectively become dominated by party machinery.
The legitimacy of results would also differ. High turnout would show citizens value participating in candidate selection. Low turnout, conversely, would strengthen arguments that primaries should be resolved and funded by each party internally.
The Cost Question Remains
The economic debate persists. Even if citizens aren't required to vote, the state must still organize elections — schools, polling station authorities, security, logistics, and vote counting. Making voting optional doesn't eliminate the cost of PASO.
Supporters argue the system helps organize the electoral offer, reduce candidate fragmentation, and resolve differences within coalitions. It also ensures all parties compete under common rules and prevents party leadership from handpicking candidates behind closed doors.
The Political Game Behind the Reform
For Peronism, keeping PASO could be especially useful given a potential internal dispute between Kirchnerism, Kicillof, Massa, and provincial governors. For the ruling party, eliminating them could force the opposition to resolve differences before reaching the ballot or push them to compete fragmented. This is the real backdrop: each force defends the system that best suits its strategy.
PASO doesn't elect authorities, only candidates. But they're not just a poll either: losing within one's coalition prevents a candidate from running under a different list in the same election. This rule helps unify coalitions, though it also transfers internal party disputes to the entire society.
Macri's Three Conditions
In negotiations with the government, Macri has set three conditions for moving toward an agreement:
- That the ruling party recognize the support the PRO party has given to the libertarian administration.
- That it stop politically disputing the City of Buenos Aires.
- That Macri be accepted as the sole interlocutor negotiating for the party in all districts.
The former president also demanded that La Libertad Avanza stop poaching individual PRO leaders. After these demands, there were signs of rapprochement. In a meeting with Cristian Ritondo and Fernando De Andreis, Martín and Eduardo “Lule” Menem acknowledged the PRO's support for the government at key moments.
Negotiations with Governors
The government's strategy extends beyond Macri. Chief of Staff Diego Santilli and Economy Minister Luis Caputo traveled to Albigasta, Catamarca, to inaugurate an aqueduct alongside governors Raúl Jalil (Catamarca) and Elía Suárez (Santiago del Estero). The project had been promised last year during negotiations for provincial legislative support to suspend PASO.
Governors from the Norte Grande region (Argentina's north) plan to visit the Casa Rosada to request compensation in the Senate debate over the Zonas Frías (Cold Zones) law. Northern provinces without natural gas networks argue they face high electricity costs during hot months and seek mechanisms to offset subsidy reductions.
The Opposition Bloc That Could Block Reform
Building agreements will be crucial if the government decides to move against PASO. The last Senate session showed potential difficulties: the opposition gathered between 37 and 39 votes to reject a chapter of the Fire Management law reform. The ruling party calculates a similar majority could block any attempt to suspend or eliminate the primaries.
This bloc includes legislators from Peronism, Convicción Federal, Santa Cruz, Misiones, and sectors of the UCR (Radical party), among others.
What Does Society Expect?
Argentina needs to determine what it expects from its primaries. If they're a public tool to organize political competition, they need sufficient participation, clear rules, and democratic justification. If they're merely party internals funded by the state, citizen criticism is inevitable.
Making them optional could be a way to gather votes in Congress, but not necessarily an institutional solution. It risks maintaining costs, reducing participation, and giving more influence to the most mobilized sectors.
Meanwhile, politics continues seeking someone to resolve its internal disputes. And society watches.