A candidacy signal despite the ban
National Deputy Máximo Kirchner has again raised the possibility that former president Cristina Kirchner will run for the presidency in 2027, even though she is barred from public office for life because of her conviction in the Vialidad case. In an interview on a streaming channel, he said that since she began her path at the United Nations he believes she has the will to represent Argentines who think she can serve again. Her defense lawyers, Rafael Valim and Javier Borrego, submitted new evidence to the UN Human Rights Committee, but the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation has already upheld the six-year prison sentence and the lifetime disqualification.[S1][S2][S3]
Máximo Kirchner described the sentence as one in which the accessory penalty is heavier than the main one, referring to the permanent ban on holding public office. He also said that without Cristina on the ballot, Peronism loses competitiveness. Asked whether she could run through alternative legal routes, since some jurists argue the ruling only prevents her from taking office but does not strip her electoral rights, he did not rule out any possibility.[S1][S2][S3]
Internal dispute and the PJ leadership
The statements come amid a strong internal fight in Peronism and a dispute with Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof, who has already said at a public event that he intends to run for president. One of the main points of conflict is the leadership of the Justicialist Party. Máximo Kirchner said he believes Cristina should be the party's national president and Kicillof should not. He added that he expresses his differences with the governor constructively in a political debate forum, and recalled that his group backed Kicillof's gubernatorial candidacies in 2019 and 2023, following Cristina Kirchner's criteria even when he thought things could have been done differently.[S1][S2][S3]
Máximo Kirchner also argued that barring the former president harms Argentine democracy, because millions of Argentines who want to vote for her cannot do so, and he warned that this begins to falsify the democratic system. On the state of Peronism, he criticized the sector with a more pragmatic profile that does not account for its results, and said that if part of Peronism gives quorum for labor reform, that must be debated somewhere. He recalled that whenever such a discussion arises it seems as though he is fostering division, and he questioned that when his space wants primaries to settle differences, other sectors refuse to compete.[S1][S2][S3]
Criticism of Milei and a personal memory
The deputy also criticized President Javier Milei's government, though he credited it with channeling society's frustration with the administration of the Frente de Todos. He said that if the president spoke of the caste, the only one imprisoned is Cristina Kirchner and the caste remains. Asked whether he feared going to prison over the Hotesur and Los Sauces case, he said he was afraid on September 1 at ten at night, when someone tried to kill Cristina Kirchner, and that he feared not only for her but also for the later reactions, adding that a great deal of work was needed to calm tempers.[S1][S2][S3]
