Overview
- The Casa Rosada still does not have the 37 Senate votes required to suspend or eliminate PASO as of Monday and counts about 24 secure supporters from the libertarian bloc and three allied senators.
- Chief of Cabinet Diego Santilli publicly said he expects the reform to pass and argued Javier Milei would win with or without PASO, but his timetable for approval has slipped into November as negotiations continue.
- Provincial governors are demanding guarantees that La Libertad Avanza will not run challengers in their provinces before committing their senators, turning the vote into a trade over local electoral rules.
- Key allied lawmakers in the UCR and parts of PRO have publicly opposed eliminating the primaries, and some senators warn that worsening economic conditions could erode the government’s assumed support.
- PASO are open, simultaneous and mandatory primary elections that shape candidate selection and campaign timing, so their suspension would shift power to party leaders and governors and change how voters influence nominations.