Mauricio Macri returns to the party he founded in 2005 to renew it and regain prominence in Argentine politics. As the new president of the Republican Proposal (Pro), he will have a double challenge ahead of him: organizing his own ranks after years of internal fights for power—one of the keys to his defeat in the last presidential elections—and deciding whether or not to formalize an alliance. politics with Javier Milei ahead of the 2025 legislative elections.
Macri will assume the presidency without waiting for the internal vote, set for June, because on Tuesday night, during the deadline to register candidates, he ran at the head of a unity list. The negotiation lasted much longer than expected due to the fight by the current party leader, Patricia Bullrich, to retain positions of power. In the end she managed to impose one of her bishops, Damián Arabia, as second vice president.
The relationship between Bullrich and Macri has suffered several short circuits since the electoral campaign, when the former competed against Milei and the former president seemed to play both sides. After Milei's victory, the roles were reversed and Macri's attempt to be the only voice of dialogue with the president-elect failed. Bullrich negotiated on her behalf to take over as Minister of Security and the same thing happened with Luis Caputo at the head of the Economy portfolio and Luis Petri in Defense. The last disagreement occurred weeks ago, when Macri moved behind the scenes to resolve the conflict over provincial funds between Milei and the governor of Chubut, Nacho Torres, and Bullrich, on the other hand, publicly stated his support for the Argentine president.
During the negotiations for the leadership of the Pro, the Minister of Security, one of the most highly valued in Milei's Cabinet, even threatened to present her own candidacy if she did not obtain a significant share of power. This gives him a priori the ability to influence the legislative lists if a joint candidacy with La Libertad Avanza is finally presented next year.
Parliamentary alliance
The two parties have an alliance for now in fact in Congress. The 37 Pro deputies voted in February in favor of the State scrapping law, although it ultimately did not go ahead due to the majority rejection of some key articles by the chamber. Along the same lines, the six Pro senators supported in March the presidential decree of necessity and urgency to deregulate the Argentine economy, but that support was insufficient to avoid defeat in the Upper House.
Macri is at a crossroads. In 2015 he marked an era by becoming the first president in a century who did not belong to the two leading parties in national politics, but nine years later, many voters associate him with the old politics that Milei attacks. The negative image of him – 61% – is much higher than the negative one – 37% – and he has it in his hands to give a new party identity to the Pro without being swallowed up by Milei.
In the primary elections last August, voters chose the hard line represented by Bullrich over the moderate position led by former mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta. With both eliminated from the presidential race, in the second round the majority opted for Milei over the Peronist Sergio Massa. One hundred days later, the majority has no regrets: the libertarian won with 56% of the votes and retains 50% support despite having applied a draconian fiscal adjustment that has pulverized pensions and salaries.
The instant rapprochement between the Pro and Milei after the first round of elections seemed like it was going to culminate in a government agreement that has not materialized so far. With a pact, the president would gain parliamentary and territorial power—El Pro governs in the Argentine capital and the provinces of Entre Ríos and Chubut—but it would weaken the anti-political discourse that contributes to his popularity. The Pro, for his part, would gain power through political positions.
Rodríguez Larreta has harshly criticized this possible alliance without abandoning the party, which remains united despite major internal differences. On the contrary, the coalition of parties with which the Pro competed in the last three presidential elections – first named Cambiemos and then Together for Change – has been blown up. The century-old Radical Civic Union (UCR) and the minority Civic Coalition have distanced themselves from the radical turn of Macrism and its support for the Pro. They warn that if they hand the keys to the ultra president, their fate will be tied to his.
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