MENDOZA.- Mendoza Peronism is mortally wounded and begins to seriously rethink how to resurface. The hard blow he received in the gubernatorial elections on Sunday, in which he came in third place and close to fourth place, very far from the winner – the radical Alfredo Cornejo-, became the synthesis of the crisis that Justicialism is experiencing in the province of Cuyo, which is characterized by its perfil antikirchnerista and more focused on the private sector.
For this reason, the main figures of the traditional party, from the various internal aspects, seek to assimilate the strong message of the polls, which meant the worst defeat of the group in Mendoza history since the return of democracy. Under this difficult and complex scenario, in which bill passes are the order of the day, they are already thinking about the need to find a way out to become competitive again.
The shock is not minor: since 1983 Mendoza had five radical governors and five Justicialists, so Cornejo arrived to break that parity. Likewise, the unprecedented return of a former president, supported by eight consecutive years of radical management, still leaves him more headaches for PJ for the future. Reviewing the background, the recent performance of the PJ, with the formula Omar Parisi and Lucas Ilardo, linked to Kirchnerism and that It only reached 15%, shows a surprising perforation of the historical floor of 25 percent.
Meanwhile, it is the second time that Peronism comes third in the gubernatorial elections; the previous one was in 1999. In fact, the Green party He almost took their place: he doubled the Paso votes and remained at 12 percent.
It was, without a doubt, a provincial Peronist formula of lesser weight, since the Mendoza PJ, led by Kirchnerism, under the supervision of the national senator Anabel Fernández Sagasti, He previously failed to seduce any mayor. Nor did the communal leaders show interest in submitting to the popular will, in the midst of the national economic crisis, with a national government in decline.
Therefore, this year, The six Justicialist communes of Maipú, Santa Rosa, La Paz, Lavalle, Tunuyán and San Rafael decided to advance the elections. After passing through the April PASO, they managed retain their territories, on September 3. That day, some chiefs were also critical of the party leadership, especially for the absence of support in their local campaigns. This Sunday, in addition to the governor, the people of Mendoza elected the heads of 11 communes, most of them radical.
“Self-criticism is when one criticizes oneself. My self-criticism is the same: I walked every day; For 120 days I have been getting up at 6 in the morning and going to bed at 12 at night. We walked the province five times. In reality, self-criticism must be given by the PJ and its leaders. I have not failed, I have given everything for Peronism. I did everything that Peronism needed to put it in the place it should have. Mendoza needs alternation and to change the political sign,” expressed the candidate of the Frente Elegí during the election day, with a forceful phrase, after the weak result: “We did not meet expectations. Starting tomorrow we will start working on the reconstruction.”
But Parisi did not skimp on darts to the Justicialist communes: “We managed to win in Malargüe, we won in three more departments, in the departments that we did not win we will not have had the support we needed.”
Therefore, the focus is now placed again on some traditional PJ figures, linked to the communes with the greatest territorial weight, so there are already those who are beginning to think about 2027, feeling that there is some chance of prospering to once again command the destinies of the province.
On this train, it appears strongly Matías Stevanato, communal chief of Maipú, who seemed distant from the gubernatorial formula and from the current Kirchnerist leadership. What’s more, his last electoral game was limited to giving his support for the national candidacy of Sergio Massa and was more in tune with the proposal of La Unión Mendocina, the force that created Omar De Marchi after breaking with Cambia Mendoza, who reached second place in the provincial elections.
What’s more, Stevanato, like most of the Peronist mayors, was not present in the Justicialist bunker.
The re-elected mayor had already anticipated his position, the night of the large victory in his municipality, thinking more about his future than about the provincial elections that were coming: “This model has to reach the province, we need dialogues to be generated. And I am sure that this model will guide the destinies of the province,” said Stevanato after rejecting Parisi’s candidacy.
On the other hand, the candidate for governor responded: “Let Stevanato do what he wants. He didn’t confirm anything to me, nor does he have to. The people of Mendoza are going to accompany us beyond what the leaders do.”
Sunday’s result made clear the reality that the historic match is experiencing on Cuyo land and the challenges ahead. It will not be easy to reach an agreement, they assure THE NATION the leaders consulted, but they recognize that they must give a shift of weight, looking more towards the province, to survive and fight again.
The five radical governors were Santiago Felipe Llaver (elected in 1983), Roberto Iglesias (1999), Julio Cobos (2003), Alfredo Cornejo (2015) y Rodolfo Suarez (2019).-
Meanwhile, the five Peronist leaders were José Octavio Bordón (1987), Rodolfo Gabrielli (1991), Arturo Lafalla (1995), Celso Jaque (2007) y Francisco “Paco” Pérez (2011).
