BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentine economy minister Sergio Massa will be a “unity candidate” for the ruling Peronist bloc ahead of presidential elections in October, the Union por la Patria alliance said in a tweet late on Friday.
The announcement from the main Peronist coalition grouping comes just a day after Interior Minister Eduardo ‘Wado’ de Pedro, part of a leftist bloc, had publicly announced his presidential bid, as well as moderate Daniel Scioli.
Candidates have until Saturday night to register to run in August primary elections. In theory as a unity candidate, Massa would run alone on behalf of the Peronist bloc. Massa, de Pedro and Scioli made no immediate comment on the announcement.
The primary candidates for the main opposition conservative bloc Juntos por el Cambio include Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Larreta and ex-security minister Patricia Bullrich. Also riding high is far-right libertarian economist Javier Milei.
(Reporting by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Isabel Woodford)
