Six Main Forces Compete in the Argentine Primaries on Sunday

On Sunday, Argentina will hold the Parlamentary Primary Elections (PASO) to choose the candidates who will take part in the Nov. 14 elections, in which 127 of the 257 seats in the Lower House and 24 out of 72 Senate seats will be renewed.

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In this electoral process, the political forces with the greatest historical trajectory and citizen support are the following parties: 

National Justicialist Party (PJ). This organization follows the doctrine of President Juan Domingo Peron (1946-1955), who sought social justice, political sovereignty, and economic development in his country. Argentina's current Vice-President Cristina Fernandez is a Justicialist militant. For the 2021 PASO, this party nominated Rossana Chahla for lawmaker candidate and Marcelo Lewandowski for senator candidate in Tucuman province.

National Communist Party (PC). Founded in 1918 as the "International Socialist Party", this party adheres to the Marxist-Leninist ideology. Its political agenda for the PASO establishes a state-promoted national plan of industrialization and employment to fight against the recession prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We claim the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, which the opposition politicians want to give away,” Tania Caputo, the PC candidate for senator in Buenos Aires province, also stressed.

Party for Culture, Education, and Labor (PCET). The political proposals of this organization seek to unite the Argentine society and Latin American peoples towards a common goal: socio-economic recovery and sustainable development. This party ran for the PASO as part of the pro-government coalition Front of All (FT) along with the PJ and the PC.

Republican Proposal (PRO). Former President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) founded this party, which defends the neoliberal model. The PRO ran for the primaries as part of the opposition coalition Together for Change (TFC). Former Cipolletti City Mayor Anibal Tortoriello and businessman Martin Bocco are the PRO candidates to lawmakers for Rio Negro and Santa Cruz provinces respectively.

Christian Democratic Party (PDC). This party was founded in 1954 and has a strong influence in Buenos Aires City and Jujuy province. It seeks to promote democracy in Argentina from a Catholic perspective. Although the PDC runs with the coalition Federal Consensus (FC), it supports the reelection of the Lower House President Carlos Fernandez, who is a TFC candidate.

The Workers' Party (PO). Although this political organization runs with the  Left and the Workers Front (UNITY) coalition, its doctrine resembles the "Front for All" ideology. It proposes to guarantee universal access to health, increase pensions, and comply with the right to legal and safe abortion. So far, the PO candidate Myriam Bregman leads the list of pre-candidates to lawmakers for Buenos Aires City.