As I speculated, Gerardo Zamora of Santiago will return to the Senate with his own bloc and in principle will not be within the structure of Peronism. Led by José Mainz, which will influence Cristina Kirchner’s strategy in the Senate.
As in the term he held between 2013 and 2017, where he left the position of governor in the hands of his wife, Claudia Ledesma Abdallah, Zamora will dust off the seal of the Civic Front of Santiago In this new term in the Senate.
According to what was confirmed by legislative sources, the governor of Santiago, who is still taking the oath in Friday’s session, will form a bloc with Elia Moreno, who accompanied him on the October list.
Of Peronism, the Mayans are confident that he will be able to retain the support of the Civic Front leader, although talks are still open to reach an agreement, and like most Peronist rulers, the man from Santiago will seek greater flexibility.
Zamora became a staunch ally of Kirchnerism during the government of Cristina Kirchner, although during the first administration he built bridges to ensure coexistence in Congress.
Even with the support of Peronism, he was elected President pro tempore of the Senate in 2014 and was in the line of succession until December 2015. Later, Ledesma Abdallah held the same position during the government of Alberto Fernández, when Cristina headed the Senate.
Zamora was clearly committed to increasing the pace of negotiations with the government, and even caused a stir within the Peronism that received Diego Santelli, as part of the meetings held by the Minister of the Interior to reach agreements on the budget and reforms promoted by Casa Rosada.
The fact is that Zamora and Kirchnerism always played side by side in elections to win the three seats in the Senate, two for the majority and the remaining seat for the minority. This election was no exception, because in one of the elections Zamora ran with Moreno, and José “Pichon” Neder was renewed in favor of the Forza Patria party, which would continue in the orbit of Kirchnerism.
The truth is that the departure of the two senators from Santiago del Estero will have an impact on Peronism, whose seats increased from 34 to 28 seats. If the people of Santiago leave, their number will remain at 26, of which 4 are part of the federal condemnation bloc, which has already predicted that they will not be part of the unity declared by the Mayans.
In the deputies, Zamora has 7 legislators who respond to him and are still under the wing of Peronism in the bloc led by German Martinez, who was confident that he would be able to contain the rest of the bench.
Although this shift in the Senate encourages the possibility of a reissue of the Civic Front also in the House of Representatives, which would also have a certain impact on Kirchnerism seeking to contain leaks to continue as a first minority, which is fundamental for Cristina Kirchner in her desire to maintain K’s presence in areas such as the Judicial Council.
However, questions could begin to clarify next week, as representatives elected last October will be sworn in in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.