Coalitions To Present Presidential Hopefuls As De Pedro Confirms Run

Saturday 24 June marks the deadline for political coalitions to put forward their potential candidates for the Open, Simultaneous and Mandatory Primaries (PASO) that will take place on 13 August. These PASO primaries could have a significant impact on the general election taking place in October. Earlier in June, political parties registeredtheir respective electoral coalitions for the upcoming election, with the governing Peronist Frente de Todos changing its name to Union por la Patria (UxP).

• In the blanket PASO primaries, all coalitions must put forward a single candidate that is required to win more than 1.5% of the natiowide vote to get onto the ballot for the general election.
• Given that all coalitions are running against one another in the primary, these votes are closely-watched as they can act as a signal as to the potential outcome of the subsequent general election.
• In the 2019 primaries, then-incumbent President Mauricio Macri's centre-right coalition finished 15.6% behind the left-wing Peronist coalition of Alberto Fernandez, despite polls having the gap as narrow as 1% in the weeks leading up to the vote. While Macri was able to make up some ground in the general election, Fernandez came out on top with 48.2% of the vote to Macri's 40.3%.
• Interior Minister Eduardo ‘Wado’ de Pedro announced his intention to run for the UxP candidacy on 22 June. De Pedro is seen as coming from the left-wing populist camp loyal to Vice-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.