Axel Kicillof called for a joint list in the province with a message to Máximo Kirchner: "Let the candidates be the most competitive."

Amid uncertainty over the Peronist candidacies in the province of Buenos Aires following the arrest of Cristina Kirchner, Governor Axel Kicillof asked the party leadership to work "on a joint list" for the September elections. Given the uncertainty surrounding the former president's replacement, he emphasized the need for the candidacies to be "the most competitive."

"There are no vetoes. Our party and all parties are proposing that the lists be as competitive as possible and without any imposition from any sector . We have to sit down and see what happens," she said in statements to C5N when asked about the possibility of Máximo Kirchner replacing the former president through the Third Electoral Section.

Along the same lines, he emphasized that the candidates competing on September 7 "must be respectful of the spaces and the mayors " because "it's going to be a very territorial election." In this context, he did not rule out the possibility that many mayors could resort to token candidates as part of their electoral strategy.

Pressed by the electoral calendar , which sets July 9 as the deadline for submitting alliances and July 19 for finalizing lists, Kicillof said he had called "a meeting to begin discussing a joint list." The call, he asserted, was the result of the last meeting he had with the former president before she began serving her house arrest.

"It's a commitment, we've made it public. I'm calling for these meetings to appeal to other sectors. There's talk of unity, but that's a construction: this situation requires us to develop a joint electoral strategy that will allow us to put a stop to Milei," he stated, recalling that "Peronism hasn't won a midterm election for 20 years."

He said, "The call to the table is imminent ." "I'm speeding it up, but I haven't received confirmation, but there's a desire from all sectors to create a joint list," he reiterated.

In response to the questions raised by the decision to separate the provincial and national elections, the governor noted that "there is a calendar set by decree" due to the complications, he asserted, caused in the province of Buenos Aires by the use of two voting mechanisms: the Single Electronic Ballot for the national election and the paper ballot for the local election.

" The single ballot was meant to create chaos . It will create long waits in the province of Buenos Aires, making it inconvenient for people to vote. The decision wasn't made with me or anyone else in mind, but given the number of tables, it seems impossible to me," he argued.

Regarding the situation in the provinces, Kicillof again criticized the government for cutting aid. The Buenos Aires governor emphasized that "since Milei took office , contributions to the provinces have been reduced by 35%, " and now, more than a year after the Libertarian leader took office, "the number of people asking for help" from the Buenos Aires government is tripling.

"Milei appropriated pension contributions, the entire public works budget, at a growing and cumulative cost," he insisted, noting that according to calculations by his Infrastructure Minister, Gabriel Katopodis, "one year of road maintenance is equivalent to four years" of use. He also noted that the nation "doesn't transfer these funds to the provinces either."

Kicillof noted that at Monday's meeting at the CFI, it was evident that "all the governors are demanding funds like the ATN and the road fund, which comes from fuel for road maintenance." He asked that "it be distributed among the provinces because that will not affect the fiscal surplus."

The provinces, "due to tax pressure, were forced to pick up the tab" for the works and assistance "when they don't issue money or have financing." "We need our debt law approved in the province to refinance what (María Vidal's) administration left us."

"Each province is taking action, and sometimes the Supreme Court is doing so directly, claiming funds that are due" to the provincial states, he added, recalling that Buenos Aires "has nine cases" before Argentina's highest court .

The governor acknowledged that "there are major difficulties due to the increase in demand" in the province and again placed the blame on the national government because, for example, "Milei deregulated rents, medications, and prepaid health insurance." "There were people who previously had access to medications and housing through the private sector, and now they can't afford it," he assessed.