Plural Consensus ( es, Concertación Plural) was a

center-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

Kirchnerist Kirchnerism ( es, Kirchnerismo ) is an Argentine political movement based on populist ideals formed by the supporters of Néstor Kirchner and his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who consecutively served as Presidents of Argentina. Alt ...

electoral alliance in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

acting as a political bloc in the

Argentine Senate The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation ( es, Honorable Senado de la Nación Argentina) is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina. Overview The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 18 ...

and elsewhere. The coalition is largely made up of members of the

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union ( es, Unión Cívica Radical, UCR) is a centrist and social-liberal political party in Argentina. It has been ideologically heterogeneous, ranging from social liberalism to social democracy. The UCR is a member of the ...

, a group of smaller parties and dissident

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

members who support the governing

Peronist Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of Ar ...

s led by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President ...

. Former President

Néstor Kirchner Néstor Carlos Kirchner (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, Secretary General of UNASUR and ...

proposed the coalition as a new centre-left force in Argentine politics

The smaller parties originally included the Broad Front (Argentina), Broad Front, the Victory Party, the

Intransigent Party The Intransigent Party ( es, Partido Intransigente) is a leftist political party in Argentina, founded in 1963 by Oscar Alende. Its membership came from the Intransigent Radical Civic Union, one of the two factions of the Radical Civic Union ...

and the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social te ...

. The leading former Radical supporting the Kirchners was

Julio Cobos Julio César Cleto Cobos (; born 30 April 1955) is an Argentine politician who was the Vice President of Argentina in the administration of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner from 2007 to 2011. He started his political career as member of ...

, who was elected vice president. Having been expelled from the Radicals, he set up his own party, which eventually settled on the name ConFe (Federal Consensus). Formally, the bloc's two senators are Senator Dora Sánchez of

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; gn, Taragui), officially the Province of Corrientes ( es, Provincia de Corrientes; gn, Taragüí Tetãmini) is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (fr ...

and Pablo Verani of

Río Negro Province Río Negro (, ''Black River'') is a province of Argentina, located in northern Patagonia. Neighboring provinces are from the south clockwise Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Its c ...

, both former Radicals. Other leading members of the concertation, often termed 'Radicales K', are governors

Miguel Saiz Miguel Saiz (May 17, 1949 – October 22, 2019) was an Argentine politician latterly of the Radical Civic Union (UCR), who served as governor of Río Negro Province from 2003 until 2011. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Saiz studied at the National ...

Gerardo Zamora Gerardo Zamora (born 6 January 1964) is an Argentine politician from Santiago del Estero Province. Governor of Santiago del Estero since 2005, he was a member of the centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR). Early life and education Born in rural Bowe ...

and

Arturo Colombi Arturo Colombi (born January 6, 1958) is an Argentine Radical Civic Union (UCR) politician, and former governor of Corrientes Province. Born in Mercedes, Corrientes, and educated at the National University of the Northeast with a degree in civil ...

and deputies such as Hugo Nelson Prieto. In the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon ...

, a similar bloc of five deputies named 'Of the Concertation' (''de la Concertación'') exists, led by Prieto. The 'Plural Consensus' tag has been widely used in the media to describe the non-Justicialist elements of the ruling coalition. By the time plans were advanced in formalising the coalition, disenchantment and defections had set in. In 2008, Kirchner began to form plans to take the leadership of the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party ( es, Partido Justicialista, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Current president Alberto Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party (and has, since 2021, served ...

and reach accommodation with those Justicialists who have opposed him, particularly the backers of

Roberto Lavagna Roberto Lavagna (born 24 March 1942) is an Argentine economist and politician who was Minister of Economy and Production from April 27, 2002 until November 28, 2005. Despite the fact that he only garnered 6% of the votes in 2019 presidential e ...

. This 'normalization' of Peronist politics left some Kirchner supporters outside Justicialist ranks uneasy, in addition to the government's tough line in the conflict with the agricultural sector. Some elements of the coalition began to peel away, notably Cobos, who used his casting vote against the moves in the

agricultural sector The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in ...

in the Senate and has since been shunned by the Kirchners. The Radical leadership began preparations to reach out to the ''Radicales K'

In April 2009, the Radicals agreed to allow Cobos to rejoin at the end of his term as vice-president, and ConFe is lining up agreements with them and the Civic Coalition (Argentina), Civic Coalition for the June elections.

References

{{Argentina-party-stub 2006 establishments in Argentina 2008 disestablishments in Argentina Christian democratic parties in Argentina Defunct political party alliances in Argentina Democratic socialist parties in South America Kirchnerism Peronist parties and alliances in Argentina Political parties disestablished in 2008 Political parties established in 2006 Social democratic parties in Argentina