Argentine Lower House Victory Front caucus splits.
The Congressional balance of power was shaken up after Congressman Diego Bossio led a splinter group away from the Victory Front (FpV) caucus yesterday to form a new Justicialist caucus. Both are Peronist; but whereas the FpV represents Kirchnerists (supporters of former Presidents Néstor and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner) this new splinter caucus would represent Peronists slightly to the right of the FpV.
The new caucus has 18 members, although it could continue to grow. The FpV caucus led by Congressman Héctor Recalde recognized yesterday that 12 of its members had been lost to the Justicialists. While the Macri administration hopes that the split could help it round up the 129 lawmakers it needs to reach a quorum in the Lower House, the new Justicialist caucus however, made it clear that its purpose was instead to support “all the Peronist governors and with them guarantee governance in each of the provinces governed by our party, and in that way contribute to national governance.”
President Mauricio Macri’s administration has 85 lawmakers of its own in the Let’s Change (Cambiemos) coalition and his representatives in the Lower House have been working to build support from various caucuses in order to be able to push through legislation. The Executive has instead used the Congressional recess in effect until March 1 to govern by decree.
While initially the number of rebellious lawmakers was in the range of six to seven as the hours passed it became clear that at least 12 of those elected to Lower House on the FpV ticket were nowhere to be found. Instead, Bossio and others were formalizing their decision to make a break from the alliance on which they were elected, leaving the FpV with 83 lawmakers according to internal calculations. Another 22 lawmakers from smaller, provincial parties are allies of the FpV, and normally vote with them.
Despite the losses, the FpV has retained its ranking as the single largest caucus in the Lower House, where no single party or coalition has been able to win a majority. The Let’s Change coalition has at 85 lawmakers; but only 41 belong to Macri's right-wing PRO as the coalition (PRO-UCR-Civic Coalition) does not constitute a single, unified caucus like the FpV does.
The geographic distribution of the caucus also sheds light on the origins of the split within the FpV. All three lawmakers from the Salta Province FpV caucus are founding members of the Justicialist caucus; Salta Governor Juan Manuel Urtubey has been one of the most conciliatory members in the Peronist camp with the Macri administration.
Congressman Pablo Kosiner’s decision to abandon the FpV was met with some surprise, as the lawmaker was vice-chair of the caucus in 2015 — entrusted with delivering fiery closing speeches to debates on the floor when former chair Juliana di Tullio was not present. Di Tullio yesterday lamented that the decision was “terrible news for the country as a whole.”
Bossio, who has had tense relations with the FpV’s youth wing, La Cámpora, directed the ANSES social security agency during most of former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's tenure. He withdrew from the the FpV primary for the gubernatorial race for Buenos Aires Province in May 2015 and was rewarded for his gesture by being given a top spot in the FpV's Buenos Aires Province party list for the Lower House.
High-profile Kirchnerists needled their former colleagues, with Senator Julio De Vido calling out Bossio for “not listening to former President Cristina Fernández when she asked that we leave the nastiness aside so that we can all go forward together.” He accused his former allies for playing into the hands of President Macri's “austerity, hyperinflation and government by decree.”
At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/208080/lower-house-victory-front-caucus-splits
