Sergio Casas

Sergio Casas (born January 13, 1971) is an Argentine politician, the governor of La Rioja Province. He has previously served as vice-governor and local deputy.

Sergio Casas
Governor of La Rioja
Incumbent
Assumed office December 10, 2015
Preceded by	Luis Beder Herrera
Vice-Governor of La Rioja
In office December 10, 2011 – December 10, 2015
Governor	Luis Beder Herrera
Preceded by	Néstor Bosetti
Deputy of La Rioja
In office December 10, 2005 – December 10, 2011
Personal details
Born	January 13, 1971 San Blas de los Sauces, Argentina
Nationality	Argentine
Political party	Justicialist Party / Front for Victory

Biography

Casas has been a local deputy for the La Rioja Province from 2005 to 2011. He served as vice-governor from 2011 to 2015, under Luis Beder Herrera. He won the primary elections in the local Justicialist Party to run as governor, defeating the ministers Javier Tineo and Néstor Bosetti; Bosetti would run as his candidate for vicegovernor.[1] He was elected governor in 2015 with the 53% of the vote.[2] The candidate of the Radical Civic Union denounced electoral fraud, but eventually accepted Casas' victory.[3] The province allows for a re-election, but as he served as vice-governor and governor in two consecutive terms, he may not run again in 2019. He acknowledges both the former governor Beder Herrera and the former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner as political leaders.[2]

Casas attended the presidential inauguration of Mauricio Macri on December 10, 2015, despite of the instructions from the Front for Victory to avoid doing so. He then returned to La Rioja, to take office as governor.[4] He had a personal meeting with Macri shortly after they took office, and they talked about the problems of the province. They agreed in the need to improve the infrastructure of the province.[5] In contrast with Beder Herrera, Casas received the local mayors and legislators of other political parties, to arrange joint actions on behalf of the province.[6] He announced that he would promote the production of tomatoes.[7]

He made an amendment to the constitution of La Rioja, to be able to run for a new term in 2019. It was followed by a referendum: only 43.95% of the registered voters attended it, and of those 25.27% supported the amendment and 17.90% rejected it. However, the local parties do not agree on the interpretation of the results. Cambiemos, the main opposition party, considers that Casas should have obtained 35% of the vote to approve the amendment, and Casas considers that it is instead the explicit rejection the one that should have achieved such 35%. As a result, they do not agree if the amendment should be in force or not.[8]

References

1. "El vicegobernador Sergio Casas será el candidato del oficialismo en La Rioja" [The vicegovernor Sergio Casas will be the official candidate in La Rioja] (in Spanish). La Gaceta. March 9, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
2. Santiago Dapelo (July 7, 2015). "Sergio Casas: "La Presidenta seguirá siendo la líder del proyecto"" [Sergio Casas: "The president will still be the leader of this project"] (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
3. "Casas ganó en La Rioja y ratificó la hegemonía del peronismo, pero la oposición denunció fraude" [Casas won in La Rioja and ratified the hegemony of Peronism, but the opposition denounced electoral fraud] (in Spanish). Infobae. July 5, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
4. Julio Aiub Morales (December 10, 2015). "Otro gobernador del PJ avisó que viene a la jura de Macri" [Another governor of the PJ announced that he's coming for the oath of Macri] (in Spanish). Clarín. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
5. "Vamos por el buen camino en la relación con Macri" [We are in the good way in the relation with Macri] (in Spanish). Rioja Libre. December 14, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
6. "Hoy recibe a los 18 Intendentes" [Today he receives the 18 mayors] (in Spanish). Rioja Libre. December 15, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
7. "Casas elogió el perfil productivo de La Rioja y anunció que este año se procesarán 45 millones de kilos de tomates" [Casas praised the productive profile of La Rioja and announced that this year will produce 45 million kilos of tomatoes] (in Spanish). El diario de La Rioja. December 26, 2015. Archived from the original on January 30, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
8. "Los riojanos le dieron la espalda al plebiscito de Sergio Casas: solo votó el 44 por ciento del padrón" [The Riojans rejected Sergio Casas' referendum: only 44% of voters voted] (in Spanish). Infobae. January 27, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2019.

External links

• Government of La Rioja (in Spanish)