Máximo Kirchner stated this Monday that the corrupt and convicted Cristina Fernández de Kirchner intends to run for election again and affirmed that the former president has “the will” to be a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections.
The Kirchnerist deputy made these statements during an interview with Infobae, where he also addressed his mother's judicial situation and the internal conflicts within Peronism.
“Since the day she started the path with the UN (to overturn the judicial ruling that condemns her and prevents her from being a candidate), I believe she has the will to represent the interests of Argentinians, who understand that she can be again...,” said the leader of La Cámpora.
According to Kirchner, the former president's efforts are currently focused on the international arena. Her lawyers have appealed to UN bodies with the aim of reviewing the case for which she was convicted and restoring her political and civil rights.
Máximo Kirchner and Axel Kicillof
In this context, he questioned the characteristics of the sentence: “It is a sentence where the accessory is higher than the principal”, he pointed out, referring to the perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
The legislator also did not rule out that Fernández de Kirchner might attempt to present herself through alternative means, given the different legal interpretations regarding the scope of the ruling.
When asked about the possibility of a candidacy, he stated: “Without Cristina on the ballot, Peronism loses competitiveness”, in a clear warning to other potential Peronist candidates, such as Governor Axel Kicillof.
Kirchner also linked the judicial situation of the corrupt former president with the functioning of the democratic system. “It harms Argentine democracy that so many millions of Argentinians want to vote for someone and cannot do so”, he maintained, adding that this situation “starts to distort the democratic system.”
The internal conflicts within Peronism
During the interview, the deputy acknowledged the fragmentation currently affecting the Justicialist Party. He identified different sectors, including Kirchnerism, Kicillofism, and the group of governors who supported measures from the government of Javier Milei.
In this context, he questioned the pragmatic profile of some sectors and raised the need to discuss the decisions made. “If a sector of Peronism provides quorum for labor reform, there has to be a discussion somewhere,” he asserted. He also noted that every time this debate arises, “it seems that one is fostering division.”
For Kirchner, “pragmatism is strongly related to the outcome being sought”. He also stated that his faction tried to resolve differences through an internal election, although, according to him, the other sectors did not accept to compete. “We wanted to go to internal elections. We had the will to compete,” he emphasized.
Cristina Kirchner and Axel Kicillof
The self-criticism for the 2023 election
The deputy also referred to the electoral defeat of 2023 and acknowledged that he underestimated President Javier Milei as an opponent. “Yes, yes, yes, I think so,” he responded when asked directly.
Kirchner clarified that, in his view, Cristina Kirchner had previously warned about the rise of the then-libertarian candidate.
According to his interpretation, Milei managed to take advantage of a situation of disenchantment generated by the governments of Mauricio Macri between 2015 and 2019 and the Frente de Todos between 2019 and 2023, which, in his words, had “frustrated society.”
Finally, he reiterated the electoral weight he attributes to the former president and stated that, without her, the space faces a significant loss of competitiveness: “it loses competitiveness, a lot”.
