Overview
- Five Provincias Unidas deputies—Martín Lousteau, Mariela Coletta, Pablo Juliano, Jorge Rizzotti and María Inés Zigarán—filed a formal letter seeking recognition as the UCR’s sole representation in the lower house and to bar other blocs from using the party name.
- The UCR’s Mesa Nacional did not put the request on its agenda and deferred action, so the existing UCR bloc chaired by Pamela Verasay keeps its denomination for now.
- Provincias Unidas cited the Budget’s Chapter XI on university financing and disability as the trigger, alleging that UCR deputies defied party guidance with three votes in favor, two abstentions and one against.
- Radical representation in the Chamber is reduced and split, with roughly six deputies in the UCR bloc, five in Provincias Unidas and one in a monoblock, reflecting competing alignments influenced by provincial leaders.
- Leaders close to the UCR bloc dismissed the petition as rupturist and a minority move, while party president Leonel Chiarella is prioritizing unity ahead of February party activities and upcoming legislative debates such as labor reform.