Argentina Seeks Governors’ Votes to Suspend Primaries
POLITICS · ARGENTINA
Key Facts
- —The country Argentina, South America’s second-largest economy, is governed by Javier Milei. His party, La Libertad Avanza (LLA), lacks a majority in either house of Congress.
- —What happened Argentina Week in Paris ended on 2 October without an announced primaries deal. Cabinet chief Diego Santilli will now meet governors one by one from next week (Perfil, 3 October).
- —The numbers LLA holds 21 of 72 Senate seats and needs 37 to suspend the primaries (Tendencia de Noticias, 16 September). Senators close to the Paris governors add about 12 (Infobae, 26 September).
- —What it means for you A deal would settle the 2027 election calendar earlier. The 2027 budget vote in the lower house now comes no earlier than 17 November, Letra P reported on 1 October.
- —Still open Whether former president Mauricio Macri’s PRO and the Radical Civic Union (UCR) back the change in the Senate. Government and provincial sources gave conflicting accounts of what Paris produced.
Argentina’s government has sped up talks on an electoral accord with allied governors, the newspaper Perfil reported on Saturday 3 October. The goal is to suspend the PASO, the compulsory nationwide party primaries, before the 2027 general election.
President Javier Milei took 13 provincial leaders to Argentina Week, an investment forum in Paris that ended on Friday 2 October. No deal was announced, and one-on-one talks with governors start next week.
What Paris produced, and what it did not
The group comprised 12 governors and Jorge Macri, head of government of Buenos Aires city. Opposition governors such as Axel Kicillof of Buenos Aires province stayed away, Ámbito reported.
Cabinet chief Diego Santilli asked the governors on 30 September to “speed up the agreements”, aides to one governor told El Destape. The governors replied almost in chorus: “What do you have to offer?”
On the record, Santilli sounded confident as the trip closed on 2 October. “I think we are doing very well,” he told reporters in Paris, El Cronista reported.
Accounts of the private talks differ. Letra P reported that neither side acknowledged discussing the primaries, while MDZ, citing six government and provincial sources, described a deal.
For the first meeting, see Milei Team Meets 12 Governors at Argentina Week Paris. Governors also returned with investment pledges for their provinces, which Letra P said helped them justify the trip at home.
Where the Paris governors stand
El Destape counted six leaders on the trip who back abolishing the PASO. Jujuy’s Carlos Sadir prefers a suspension, while Jorge Macri said he was “not so convinced” primaries are bad.
Chaco’s Leandro Zdero has already suspended his province’s own primaries, while Mendoza’s Alfredo Cornejo will keep them. Salta’s Gustavo Sáenz and Santa Cruz’s Claudio Vidal have not spoken publicly.
What the proposed electoral accord offers governors
Perfil reported that Karina Milei, the president’s sister and general secretary of the presidency, offered deals that respect each governor’s local leadership. In practice, LLA would barely compete in those provinces or would join local fronts.
Letra P reported four models of agreement to limit competition in provincial elections. Ámbito said the government has stopped talking about abolition and now weighs a one-year suspension, as in 2025.
MDZ described a “non-aggression pact” with low-profile libertarian candidates in most provinces. Each governor, in turn, is expected to back Milei’s re-election bid in 2027.
Why the Senate is the bottleneck
LLA holds 21 of the 72 Senate seats and needs 37 votes, Tendencia de Noticias reported on 16 September. Infobae counted about 12 senators who answer, to varying degrees, to the Paris governors.
Without PRO, the party of former president Mauricio Macri, and the UCR, the government cannot reach 37, Letra P reported. Macri controls three senators and the UCR holds 10 seats.
Patricia Bullrich, who leads the LLA Senate bloc, said on 15 September the votes were “not yet” there. Perfil describes her warnings as part of a wider dispute with Karina Milei.
Why the calendar is tight
Letra P reported that the National Electoral Chamber, Argentina’s top electoral court, has required the 2027 calendar to be set this year. A suspension voted in February, as happened last year, is no longer an option.
The budget has moved behind the electoral accord as a result. Letra P reported that the lower-house session will not come before 17 November, with the Senate following in December.
What Is Not Yet Known
No governor has publicly committed Senate votes to an electoral accord, and no terms have been published. It is also unclear whether any accord would end the primaries or only suspend them for 2027.
Parliamentary sources told El Destape that committee debate in the lower house could start the week after Santilli’s meetings. A nearer test is the opposition’s push against Milei’s Decree 70/2023, covered in Argentina Opposition 14 Deputies Short on Milei Decree.
Sources: Perfil, “El Gobierno aceleró la negociación para cerrar un acuerdo electoral con los aliados” (3 October 2026); Letra P, “Javier Milei vuelve de París con sensación de gobernabilidad, pero sin un compromiso para eliminar las PASO” (2 October 2026) and “Javier Milei presiona a los gobernadores para suspender las PASO y posterga el debate del Presupuesto” (1 October 2026); MDZ, “El Gobierno se envalentona, cree que destraba las PASO y avanza con acuerdos provinciales” (2 October 2026); Infobae, “Misión París” (26 September 2026); Tendencia de Noticias, “Patricia Bullrich admitió que ‘todavía’ no están los votos para eliminar las PASO” (16 September 2026); El Destape, “La trastienda de la gira por París” (2 October 2026); Ámbito, “Javier Milei y los gobernadores en París” (3 October 2026); El Cronista, “Desde París, Santilli afirmó que el Gobierno avanza a paso firme para suspender las PASO” (2 October 2026).
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error