The Government deepens its contradictions with the provinces over the PASO primaries, and Bullrich casts doubt on her presence at the political table

Karina Milei, Diego Santilli and Juan Pablo Valdés The government is presenting contradictions that are increasingly difficult to sustain in the countdown to the debate on the suspension of the PASO primaries. While most of its provincial leaders assert that La Libertad Avanza will run against the governors in the 2027 elections, at the Casa Rosada they are weighing negotiating with those same governors the possibility of not running against them in exchange for them instructing their deputies and senators to back the suspension of the primaries. Days away from the discussion scheduled for the 17th, Karina Milei's operatives refuse to clarify which of the two strategies will prevail, but they claim that in the coming days the governors will begin to come out in favor of the initiative. The ambiguity not only fuels uncertainty in the provinces, but also deepens tensions within the ruling party. LLA's national leadership keeps territorial negotiations open without revealing what concessions it is willing to offer, while pressure grows in Congress to gather the necessary votes. In that scenario, the dispute between Patricia Bullrich and Karina Milei's operatives took on a more delicate dimension: it is not only about who leads the conversations, but about who will have to bear the political responsibility if the initiative fails. Diego Santilli, Patricia Bullrich and Martín Menem. Amid that clash, the Casa Rosada confirmed that the political table will meet again on Tuesday, but Bullrich has not yet confirmed whether she will attend, and her circle could not guarantee her presence either. At Balcarce 50 they said she was invited. "Of course," they replied, with a nonchalance meant to disguise the strain in the relationship. The former minister suspects, as Infobae reported, that the Menems intend to "hand her a dead body": leaving in her hands the responsibility of securing the votes without ceding her control over the political and territorial decisions that could prove decisive in reaching an agreement. The case of Neuquén concentrates much of the contradictions and has become an especially sensitive test for the national leadership. The province is scheduled to vote on February 14, making it the first date on the 2027 electoral calendar, and its libertarian leaders are convinced they will face Governor Rolando Figueroa. However, in the national conversations the possibility of an understanding with the provincial governor persists. The fact that the first district to go to the polls displays such a gap between local statements and the negotiations of the party's top brass turns the episode into a symbol of the official strategy, warn those within the ruling party itself. "That the candidates in Neuquén are so unaware of what is being discussed at the national level is quite a symbol," interpreted a national leader who maintains a fluid dialogue with the Menems. There are those who believe that the proclamations of electoral independence by the provincial figures do not necessarily reflect the decisions the party leadership will ultimately make. Karina Milei with Martín Menem, Nadia Márquez and Emilia Orozco Karina Milei's circle is not giving anything away. The answers are elliptical, decisions are postponed, and inquiries about possible alliances are met with evasions. A source from La Libertad Avanza's national electoral design conveyed that they are evaluating all scenarios and are not willing to give away an ounce of information. The secrecy extends both to the provinces where there could be deals and to those where they will ultimately run their own lists. They do not want to anticipate decisions, "neither yes nor no," much less specify when they would be made official. The caution contrasts with the certainties displayed by leaders from the interior, many of whom assert they will run against the provincial ruling parties. In the national circles where a broader negotiation with the governors is being considered, they believe those figures are being naive in taking for granted that they will have autonomy to define their candidacies. "The end of innocence is drawing near for them," quipped one of the leaders convinced that the national leadership's final word will lean toward satisfying the provinces' demand. In Santiago Caputo's sector, they have maintained from day one that La Libertad Avanza must strike deals with the governors, and they remain convinced, without understanding the Menems' game. They are particularly critical of the possibility of running against Figueroa, whom they defend. In part, because of the investments attributed to his administration. "Rolo brought in investments worth 100 billion dollars in three years and now he has to compete for power with very weak local libertarian leaders. On the contrary, LLA should resemble Rolo a little more. But the decision making is something else," they said. The distance between Las Fuerzas del Cielo and Karina Milei's operatives also shows up in the explanations about the origin of the contradictions. "It is very hard to reason it out. It is difficult to know whether one should start from the premise that they are very intelligent or that they are incompetent." The confusion feeds two hypotheses among the leaders who closely follow the negotiations. One is that the government lacks a coordinated strategy and that the contradictory messages are the result of improvisation or negligence. The other is that the ambiguity is part of a deliberate operation, to confuse interlocutors and preserve room for maneuver. In that case, however, no one manages to explain precisely what the benefit of sustaining such uncertainty until the last moment would be. Rolando Figueroa meeting with Santilli at the Casa Rosada on June 9 of this year Months ago, some officials justified the lack of definitions with one argument: buying time. But that interpretation is starting to lose force given the proximity of the parliamentary debate. Now it is the ruling party itself that is racing against the clock and needs to show concrete progress to gather the votes. In Neuquén, meanwhile, Nadia Márquez maintains a discourse of explicit alignment with the President. "We are President Milei's team in Neuquén. Long live freedom, damn it," she wrote on X. Martín Menem retweeted it. The leader is mentioned in the speculation about the 2027 presidential ticket as a potential running mate for Milei, but also among the alternatives to lead the national senators' bloc if Bullrich is removed. Her possible enthronement is not without resistance, and among her detractors, even within the bloc itself, they recall the case in which she was accused of issuing irregular diplomas and for which she served a probation period. Because of that record she cannot run for a provincial office under Neuquén's Ficha Limpia law, though she can nationally. Diego Santilli and Rogelio Frigerio In the realm of the most recent conversations with the governors, and taking into account the papal holidays, Diego Santilli only received the Entre Ríos governor Rogelio Frigerio on Thursday, one of the leaders who had already expressed his support for eliminating the PASO. The meeting was presented as part of the ruling party's political contacts, but it was by no means decisive in the search for support, since the Entre Ríos governor was already among the allies of the initiative. The real challenge lies in winning over those who have not yet committed to backing it and, especially, in getting those pronouncements to translate into actual votes from their legislators. The distinction is not minor. A favorable public declaration by a governor does not automatically guarantee the support of all the deputies and senators linked to his administration. That is why, behind the conversations about the electoral reform, lies the discussion about provincial candidacies and the cost each governor would be willing to assume to hand the government a victory in Congress. The summons made this week by the ruling party with the signature of Senator Agustín Coto for the 17th — that is, Wednesday — accelerated the timetable and exposed the gap between the message of unity the Casa Rosada tries to convey and the differences that persist behind closed doors. In a dialogue with Infobae, a source at Balcarce 50 promised that the governors will begin to come out in favor of eliminating the primaries in the coming days. The question is whether, before the time comes to count the votes, the Milei siblings will manage to put together a strategy that even today, days before the start of the debate in committees, appears fragmented among those who want to compete in every province, those who contemplate deals with the governors, and those who suspect that the ground is being prepared for them to bear the consequences of a possible failure.