Aníbal Fernández reappears in La Plata, calls to "protect Axel Kicillof" and distances himself from Kirchnerism

Former Chief of Cabinet of the Nation Aníbal Fernández called on Monday to "protect" Governor Axel Kicillof as the main reference of Peronism ahead of the upcoming elections, following a visit to the Government House in La Plata, where he met with provincial officials.

"Peronism has made too many mistakes to allow itself to make new ones", he warned, emphasizing that the way forward is to discuss and reach consensus rather than improvising candidacies: "Today, Peronism, aside from Axel, has no one of substance. We must first protect what we have".

Fernández highlighted the relationship with the provincial administration and assured that "the relationship with Axel is very good", also stressing the respect and affection he claims to feel for the governor, whom he defined as "a well-educated guy, an intelligent guy, a guy of the highest level" who has managed to "get many things functioning" despite the financial constraints imposed by the national government, according to his description.

When asked about a possible candidacy of Sergio Massa, he avoided dismissing it but emphasized that it is not his place to define names: "I am not the one to give anything to anyone. There you have another case, which could be Sergio, or there could be some third case that appears. No one is in a position to point a finger at who it should be".

The former official also criticized the Peronist leadership for past mistakes, although without naming individuals: "They have placed their friends in critical positions and today they do not know who they are", he stated, and illustrated with irony that if money were offered in exchange for a clear list of PJ leaders from the last twenty years, "none would know what to answer".

When asked about the political situation of former president Cristina Kirchner, Fernández was categorical: "Cristina cannot be a candidate", he said. "You will never see me as a fool with a sign that says 'Cristina free'. That is horrific", he emphasized.

However, he clarified that in his view, the head of the national Justicialist Party is innocent of the case that led to her conviction and disqualification. "She must be free because she is innocent, she has nothing to do with everything they invented", he asserted, although he emphasized that the sentence that convicted her "does not allow her to run" for an elective position. Fernández mentioned that he maintains telephone dialogue with Kirchner and that he has visited her at least ten times.

Regarding the provincial setup, he avoided naming candidates for the governorship and stressed that the definition will first depend on the national discussion: "We need to define what we are going to do at the top. To play at the bottom, there are several comrades who have a lot of level, many of them are in the provincial cabinet", he said.

Finally, Fernández defended the system of Open, Simultaneous, and Mandatory Primaries (PASO) and expressed his opposition to separating national elections from provincial ones. Regarding the primaries, he stated that he is one of their authors during his time at the Ministry of the Interior and maintained that they serve to prevent the return of internal party elections: "The internals are not governed by anyone, they are not led by anyone. The only way to level the playing field was achieved only with the PASO".

On the possibility of calling elections on different days from the Nation, he stated: "What happens in the province must be linked to what happens in the nation, and in the same way discuss everything possible to carry out strategy", and asserted that Peronism "never" promoted that practice in the province of Buenos Aires.

Nevertheless, he acknowledged that separation is not always a political decision but, in some cases, a legal obligation: he recalled that there are districts, such as Catamarca and Tierra del Fuego, where the provincial constitution itself prevents unifying local elections with national ones, so they "have no choice" but to vote separately. For the rest of the cases, he insisted that joint elections remain, in his opinion, "the best way that Peronism has known to do its things" to present itself unified before the electorate.

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