CÓRDOBA.- Although President Javier Milei's original bet was the elimination of the Open, Simultaneous and Mandatory Primaries (PASO), Martín Menem revealed that the goal now is to address their suspension in the next two weeks. For several months, while Patricia Bullrich has maintained that the votes are there to complete that step, the Chief of Staff, Diego Santilli, was counting on having enough allies to eliminate them. He is the one in charge of negotiating with the governors. Some provincial leaders agree with the Pink House that the PASO are a costly mechanism that has lost its usefulness, but for others they are a valid tool for ordering the internal disputes of the parties, even if it is not convenient to use them in the next electoral round. Santilli met this Thursday with Frigerio. In the first group there are Radicals, Peronists distanced from Kirchnerism, and provincial forces who are willing to support the official initiative, although not all of them automatically align with the libertarians on other issues. The Radicals Alfredo Cornejo (Mendoza), Maximiliano Pullaro (Santa Fe), Carlos Sadir (Jujuy), Leandro Zdero (Chaco) and Juan Pablo Valdés (Corrientes) are the ones who opened the possibility of supporting the suspension of the national primaries. There are even nuances among them. Raúl Jalil, from Catamarca, appears among those who will facilitate the agreement. Salta's Gustavo Sáenz and Córdoba's Martín Llaryora were added to that same line by the Casa Rosada, although the three of them hardened their positions in recent weeks and raised their demands to the national government. In light of international experiences, the votes of their legislators would continue to be negotiated until the last moment. Alongside the discussion on the primaries, they have placed in parallel the 2027 electoral build-up and the strategy that La Libertad Avanza will adopt in the provinces. Sáenz, a "dialoguist," closely follows the growth of the libertarian structure in his district. A similar situation occurs in Misiones, where Hugo Passalacqua distrusts possible agreements. Three senators answer to both of them. The definitions would come next week. The Neuquén senator Julieta Corroza moves in coordination with Rolando Figueroa, who aligned himself with the position of the national government. LLA also counts as a vote in favor the one of the senator who works with Chubut's Ignacio Torres. Osvaldo Jaldo (Tucumán) rejected the libertarian proposal on the PASO from the start; he is one of the Peronists who usually votes allied with the needs of the national government. Axel Kicillof, Gildo Insfrán (Formosa), Sergio Ziliotto (La Pampa) and Ricardo Quintela (La Rioja) are direct opponents. Santilli resumed contacts with the governors; the officialdom aims to call a session in the Senate on the 26th of this month and achieve the half-sanction in the ordinary sessions period. The treatment in the Chamber of Deputies would be completed in extraordinary sessions. In the Senate the libertarians need 37 votes, so they must add 16 allies to the 21 members of their bloc. While negotiating, several governors insisted to LA NACIÓN that they do not necessarily control what the representatives of their provinces will do. For example, the Corrientes legislators Eduardo Vischi, president of the Radical bloc, and Gabriela Valenzuela have a good rapport with Valdés, but also play their own game. The senator is the author of a bill to make the PASO optional. Three senators who answer to former president Mauricio Macri (Misiones' Martín Goerling; Chubut's Andrea Cristina and La Pampa's María Huala) are also key in the final count. Yesterday Santilli met on the matter with Rogelio Frigerio (Entre Ríos) at the Casa Rosada, and before that, accompanied by Karina Milei -leader of the political table- in Corrientes, where they were with Valdés touring the Emergency Command to analyze the hydrological situation. By Gabriela Origlia