Friday, February 24, 2023 | 8:59 a.m.
The menu of presidential candidates begins to be written in each of the political spaces. This Thursday was the day the public confirmations of those who intend to fight for a place at the polling tables for next October began. And one of those who launched the race to reach that point is the Argentine ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Scioli, who in 2015 was defeated at the polls in the second presidential round by Mauricio Macri, from what you already know of candidacies.
Scioli’s launch occurred in two steps, on the one hand with a letter titled “Count me in”, which he published on his social networks last Wednesday, in which he does not say anything about a candidacy, but that between the lines he allows himself to glimpse that intention. And a second step that was a television presentation this Thursday night, in which he more clearly established his intention to be one of those that appears in the offer of the national ruling party in the Open, Simultaneous and Mandatory Primaries (Step) next August 14.
In a one-on-one that could be seen on Thursday night on the C5N news channel, Scioli stated bluntly “I’m going to be a candidate” and then explained, “I don’t want to be a candidate just to be a candidate. I was already a candidate. I want to be a candidate to win, govern and have a good government.”
Scioli was a candidate for president in 2015, when his term as governor of Buenos Aires was ending. At that time he was defeated in the second round by Mauricio Macri. According to him, this defeat “leave lessons learned.” A learning that is the basis of the conviction about the decision he made on this occasion. “I cannot be indifferent nor can I face something if I am not convinced. I know that I can give a good service to the country. I am convinced that with my experience and development the country can grow”.
That experience also left him installed in front of society, which is why he considers that a good part of the campaign has been resolved, since he should not go out to make himself known. “I don’t have to campaign, because I have the peace of mind that people know me, they have seen me in extreme situations, react, they have seen my level of commitment, my ideas.”
On the other hand, his days in Brazil, as ambassador, give him some of the experience he considers he needs to face the candidacy, and if he is lucky, the presidency. “Brazil allowed me to understand this modern agenda. We live in the best country in the world, what we have to do is develop it, make it progress and produce more and more,” he said.
In recent days, those who walk the corridors of national politics have assured that Scioli has the approval of Cristina Fernández and Alberto Fernández, to present himself as a candidate. Thus, the internal crack of the Frente de Todos is healed. But in addition, the Ambassador in Brazil seeks to bridge the biggest rift, the one that for almost a decade has divided a good part of Argentines.
Notwithstanding this, he defends the management and ways of governing of Alberto Fernández. “President Alberto Fernández has a stage with unforeseen events, such as the pandemic, the war, the toxic loan from the IMF, that he has not been able to put into practice the agenda that he had proposed. Now we are seeing how employment recovers, industry, strategic works for the future of Argentina that are going to be a machine to generate dollars. Argentina does not have a structural dollar problem, it is temporary, we are going to overcome it, ”he said.
And he added that “sometimes moderates seem lukewarm, but moderate is being strong. The great merit that Alberto has is to preserve the unity of space against all kinds of circumstances. What he wants is to prioritize the victory of this political space ”.
Thus, Daniel Scioli is the first confirmed candidate of the Frente de Todos, facing the Paso that will take place on August 13. The rest is mere speculation for now.
