His new electoral reform bill also targets party financing.

On Tuesday, far-right President Javier Milei announced that he will send a bill to eliminate the Open, Simultaneous, and Mandatory Primary Elections (PASO) and reform other aspects of Argentina’s electoral system.

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“Tomorrow we are sending the electoral reform to Congress,” he said, arguing that the reform will allow citizens to stop “paying for the internal contests of the caste.”

His proposed electoral reform will also include changes to the system of financing political parties.

The primary election system was first implemented in Argentina to determine candidates for the 2011 elections, following a political reform approved by Congress in 2009, with the aim of democratizing political representation, transparency and electoral fairness.

However, the system has been questioned several times, particularly for its costs and the complexity of organizing elections in which many candidates typically run.

Under the current system, candidates or lists must obtain at least 1.5% of the total vote in the primaries to be eligible to compete in the general elections.

All parties are required to participate in the primaries, although they are not necessarily required to present more than one list of candidates to determine which will compete in the general elections.

In 2025, Congress approved a Milei-backed bill that suspended the PASO for the legislative elections held last year.

Argentina holds midterm elections to partially renew Congress every two years and general elections to choose the president and lawmakers every four years.

In 2027, elections are scheduled to be held to choose the president and vice president and to partially renew the composition of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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