The ruling party in the Chamber of Deputies will seek agreements with the opposition blocs to advance the repeal of the primary elections (PASO) during the extraordinary sessions this week. So far, they do not have the necessary votes to achieve this goal. The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Martín Menem, will lead the negotiations that will begin on Tuesday, with planned meetings with both the leaders of the dialoguing blocs and representatives of Unión por la Patria.
**"This change of strategy will depend on the ruling party's ability to gather the necessary support,"** the Government pointed out, reiterating the importance of repealing the PASO due to the high costs involved. Last week, Guillermo Francos, Chief of Staff, promoted negotiations in a meeting with the presidents of the deputy blocs from PRO, UCR, and MID. The objective is to establish a working scheme to be able to meet on February 6, according to the call for extraordinary sessions extended until February 21.
The plenary session of commissions is scheduled to take place on February 4 and 5 to address the repeal projects of PASO and Ficha Limpia. The session on February 6 will debate the elimination of the primaries, leaving the rest of the topics for a second session on February 11 in case the necessary votes are not obtained beforehand. If the repeal is not achieved by the established date, it is considered to first address the Ficha Limpia project and the security reforms, postponing the discussion on the primaries until February 11.
Martín Menem will continue the talks throughout the week, seeking support from other key blocs such as Encuentro Federal, Coalición Cívica, and Innovación Federal, in addition to figures from La Libertad Avanza and MID. While some deputies from provinces without primaries, such as Jujuy and San Luis, could support the repeal, the position in Unión por la Patria is uncertain due to internal divisions. Regarding the positioning of different blocs, there are significant discrepancies. **"The importance of eliminating the PASO due to the high expenditure they entail was reiterated,"** expressed Francos in one of the meetings.
PRO showed willingness to suspend the PASO for this year as an alternative, while UCR opposes its elimination, although it is open to discussing modifications to the system. The discussion on the repeal of the PASO remains a priority for the Government, which seeks support to carry out this initiative during the extraordinary sessions.
