With Mauricio Macri at the helm, the PRO criticized the appointments by decree of Lijo and García Mansilla to the Court

Mauricio Macri gathered his entire troop at the PRO headquarters and delivered a critical message regarding the appointments by decree that the Government decided for the two new judges of the Supreme Court, Ariel Lijo and Manuel García-Mansilla.

The former president questioned the use of the same mechanism that he used in 2016, when he initially proposed Carlos Rosenkrantz and Horacio Rosatti to fill vacancies in the court, although he later achieved political consensus and obtained agreement in the Senate for both nominations.

Macri, who has been strongly against Lijo's candidacy from the beginning, brought together the main leaders of the PRO, among whom were Rogelio Frigerio (Entre Ríos) and Jorge Macri (Autonomous City of Buenos Aires), the mayors Soledad Martínez (Vicente López) and Guillermo Montenegro (Mar del Plata), the national deputies Cristian Ritondo, María Eugenia Vidal and Diego Santilli; the national senator Alfredo De Angelis (from Entre Ríos); Facundo Pérez Carletti, secretary general of the party, and Fernando De Andreis, a man of Macri's utmost confidence. The Chubut native Ignacio Torres was not present at the summit.

Although at one point there was a thought of publishing a harsh statement against the appointments by decree, in the end that idea did not prosper . Neither the governors nor the mayors agreed to go out and attack the Government and that is why it was De Angeli, as a representative of the Senate, who referred to how the party can be stopped at the legislative level. Of the seven senators that the PRO has, four are against the nomination by commission of both magistrates.

The debate over the appointments of Lijo and García-Mansilla is taking place in the midst of a discussion between the PRO and the Government over the design of the electoral strategy both in the City of Buenos Aires and in the Province. The dialogue between Milei and Macri, moreover, is very worn out, and with the City headed by Jorge Macri there is also tension over who should take charge of the prisoners who are housed in the Buenos Aires police stations.

The relationship was also strained by the transfer of mayors from PRO to Libertad Avanza. At least three mayors changed affiliation: Diego Valenzuela (Tres de Febrero), Ramiro Egüen (25 de Mayo) and Fernanda Astorino (Capitán Sarmiento).

In addition, historical figures such as Néstor Grindetti are in a transition towards mileísmo and other mayors such as Ramón Lanús and Jaime Méndez, from San Isidro and San Miguel, seem to be going down the same path.

This week, it was also learned that Roberto Costa, former president of the Buenos Aires senators' bloc of Juntos por el Cambio and close to María Eugenia Vidal, also moved to La Libertad Avanza by incorporating his party Vecinos Unidos and preparing an event in Pilar for this Thursday in which Sebastián Pareja, the main libertarian organizer in the province of Buenos Aires, is expected to participate.