Cristina Fernández: “What would I say after the PASO if I had already said it?”
Buenos Aires, Sep 23 (EFE).- Argentina’s Vice President, Cristina Fernandez, justified her silence after the PASO (primary, open, simultaneous, and mandatory) elections held in the country on August 13, in which libertarian Javier Milei received the most votes. She explained that she had already “expressed her views” on the result.
“What was I going to say after the result? I had already expressed it. When all the media claimed that whoever won the internal election of Juntos por el Cambio (center-right) would become the president, we were already prepared (…) In May, I mentioned on television that it would be an atypical election, divided into thirds, focusing on the floor rather than the ceiling. Well, that’s what happened,” commented the former president (2007-2015).
Fernández made these statements at the Metropolitan University for Education and Work (UMET) event in Buenos Aires. The event, themed “Of Castes, Legacies, Collapses, and the Future,” was organized by the Justicialist School named after her late husband and former President Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007).
The event was broadcast via social networks, exclusive to 400 guests and without press access. It was organized on the occasion of the reissue, 20 years after its initial publication, of the book “Después del derrumbe. Conversations of Torcuato Di Tella and Néstor Kirchner.”
Claimed by a segment of the ruling Peronism, Fernandez has not actively participated in the electoral campaign for the October 22 elections. She has been absent from the spotlight since July 17, when she attended an event alongside the ruling party candidate and current Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa.
Even her son, Máximo Kirchner, asked her for a clear statement a few days ago. In a video released by his communication team, the congressman was seen amidst a crowd of supporters. When asked about the former president, he replied, “Compañera, you’ll have to address the public, right?”
This request stems from the belief held by a faction of the ruling Peronism that Fernandez de Kirchner’s involvement can attract a more significant number of votes, leading to a potential second-round competition for the Argentine Presidency between the two most-voted leaders in the PASO, Milei, and Massa, while excluding Patricia Bullrich from Juntos por el Cambio (center-right). EFE
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