Massa hardens anti-K stance after win Segio Massa says his supporters could suffer repercussions from the federal government. Tigre mayor blasts government following big victory, says ‘Kirchnerism is the past’ After his trouncing victory over the ruling Victory Front (FpV) candidate, Martín Insaurralde, Tigre Mayor Sergio Massa did not waste time, calling the government “the past.” Hours after claiming victory at his campaign headquarters in Tigre, Massa revelled in his victory to the press, making it clear that even as he tried to calm speculation of a presidential bid, he still has his eyes set on a more important post than a seat in the Lower House of Congress. “Kirchnerism is the past,” said the man who was President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s Cabinet Chief between 2008 and 2009. “The past means refusing to address everyday problems while categorizing as enemies those who view things differently,” Massa said. “People want agreements, that is why they chose us.” Massa, who only launched his Renewal Front 40 days before the primaries and was said not to be a real alternative to the Kirchnerite administration, started to make his differences clearer and to unveil his proposals, focusing on crime control, decreasing taxes and inflation. But yesterday he also began to refer to the relationship he may have in the future with the Kirchnerite administration. Massa said he knows he could face reprisals from the national government for leading an opposition front that gathers around 20 mayors who left the FpV coalition and now may suddenly see a decrease in the funds they receive from the national administration. That fear was also shared by one of Massa’s candidates, General Villegas Mayor Gilberto Alegre, who is running in the tenth slot on the Renewal Front ticket. “Of course we are worried about that, but we also know that the governor is going to need to negotiate with the lawmakers we are going to seat in Congress for good governance,” Alegre told the Herald. The Renewal Front has launched an attack against Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli, who was one of the Kirchnerite leaders they had been negotiating with when they had to decide the names to complete the ballot lists. In the end, Scioli decided to remain loyal to the Kirchnerite administration and he became their preferred target. However, Alegre tried to cool down the controversy with Scioli and said that the Renewal Front leaders are willing to begin conversations with the governor and other mayors who want to abandon the Kirchnerite alliance, although refusing to give any names. COUNTING VOTES A day after the FpV’s worst nationwide performance since 2003, yesterday was time to analyze what happened in Buenos Aires province, where the president’s candidate, Lomas de Zamora Mayor Martín Insaurralde, was defeated by Massa. Insaurralde made his best performance in the third electoral section, which includes the southern Greater Buenos Aires suburbs, including Lomas de Zamora, where Insaurralde received 50 percent of the vote. The FpV was defeated in some cities of southern Greater Buenos Aires where Kirchnerite mayors rule, including Avellaneda, Lanús, Presidente Perón, Berisso, San Vicente and La Plata city. On Sunday, Almirante Brown Mayor Darío Giustozzi, who is running in the second slot on Massa’s ticket, highlighted that the Renewal Front was stronger in the so-called “Pavón’s axis”, meaning the central areas of those southern districts. In Almirante Brown, the Renewal Front defeated the FpV but Giustozzi lost more than 36 percentage points if compared with the 77 percent achieved in 2011 when he was reelected and while he was within the Kirchnerite coalition. In La Matanza, which is the most populous district and can be considered a Kirchnerite bastion, the FpV won 41 percent of votes whereas Massa’s front achieved 31 percent of votes, which represented a good election for the coalition led by Massa. In the first electoral section, Massa’s victory was definitive, achieving more than 50 percent of the ballots in Tigre, San Isidro, Vicente López, San Fernando and Malvinas Argentinas. Former Kirchnerite Mayors such as Gabriel Katopodis (San Martín), Luis Acuña (Hurlingham), Humberto Zúccaro (Pilar), Joaquín de la Torre (San Miguel) and Sandro Guzmán (Escobar) also contributed to the result. In those cities, the Renewal Front overcame the FpV for more than 10 percentage points. Merlo’s Mayor Raúl Othacehé was the only FpV Mayor in the western part of Greater Buenos Aires that got a victory. Other Kirchnerite heads of local state were defeated in the same area, including Alberto Descalzo (Ituzaingó), Carlos Urquiaga (José C. Paz), Mariano West (Moreno), Lucas Ghi (Morón), Hugo Curto (Tres de Febrero), Juan Pablo Anghileri (General Rodríguez) and Ricardo Curutchet (Marcos Paz). In General Pueyrredón, which includes Mar del Plata city, was a surprise due to the FpV’s victory because it has historically been an anti-Peronist district. Massa’s victory, however, spread to the hinterland, an area especially hostile to the FpV after the conflict with farmers in 2008. Massa defeated his main rival in Olavarría, Zárate, Luján, Tandil, Pergamino, San Nicolás and Junín.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 18:42:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015