Donda may run against Lousteau in UNEN City primaries

City representatives of the Broad Front-UNEN yesterday suggested that national lawmaker Victoria Donda may be running in the coalition’s primaries next year against Martín Lousteau.

Party sources yesterday told the Herald that a final decision on whether Donda will decide to run or not in the PASO primaries, scheduled for April, be taken this week.

The move is an attempt by centre-left elements of UNEN to fight the power of firebrand lawmaker Elisa Carrió, a close ally of Lousteau.

Last week, the former Economy minister launched his candidacy and presented himself as the leader of the coalition’s alleged “unified” ticket for the City.

As the Herald reported on Friday, the UNEN’s left-wing parties such as Libres del Sur and Proyecto Sur said that while they celebrated the announcement, the final nomination would be settled in a competitive primary.

Even Lousteau acknowledged this tension while announcing his bid on Thursday.

“Nobody owns UNEN, we just represent an important segment,” he said.

Greater unity?

UNEN, a coalition of eight political parties, has been unable to establish a consolidated agenda as a result of infighting and discussion over electoral strategies. With greater chances of winning the top Executive position up for grabs in the City, the coalition in the district has been able to reduce that infighting and keep greater unity.

But the situation may change soon as Donda, a former Kirchnerite, is reportedly seeking to face Lousteau in the primaries as a representative of Libres del Sur (led by Humberto Tumini), Proyecto Sur (headed by Fernando “Pino” Solanas) and other figures unsatisfied with Lousteau’s bid, including Socialist (PS) Party leader Roy Cortina, who was pressured into stepping down from the mayoral race.

The young economist is a close ally to Carrió, who last month decided to withdraw from the national board of Broad Front-UNEN. In fact, the deputy mayor candidate of UNEN is Fernando Sánchez, another figure linked to the firebrand lawmaker.

On Saturday, Tumini said the “rational UNEN” ticket headed by Lousteau was in fact a victory by “those who encourage accords with the right,” in reference to Carrió’s repeated calls to seal a nationwide deal with Macri’s PRO party.

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