On a hot and sunny Sunday in Buenos Aires, there was a good turnout for the Argentine legislative elections. Half of the Chamber of Deputies and a third of the Senate will be renewed. The Peronist government is seeking to lessen the defeat it suffered with the victory of the opposition alliance Juntos por el Cambio in the last primary in September.
By 4 pm, two hours before the polls closed, more than half of eligible voters had already voted.
President Alberto Fernández voted at the UCA (Universidad Católica Argentina) in Puerto Madero this morning. “Everything is proceeding smoothly, and what we ask most of the Argentines is that they go out and express themselves so that we can build the country we want. The most important thing is that the people express themselves. And at night we will listen to what they say. We always will. we had open dialogue, we are not the ones who do not want dialogue,” he said, referring to the opposition.
The leader of the favorite opposition alliance in this election, Mauricio Macri, said that “the next two years will be difficult for Argentina, but Juntos por el Cambio will act with great responsibility, helping to make the transition as orderly as possible. , so that the country can be put back on the right path.”
Deputy Máximo Kirchner, son of Vice President Cristina Kirchner, said that Peronism did not do well in the primaries because the government “took steps to attack the economic consequences of the macrism and the pandemic, it didn’t take steps to win elections,” he said. Cristina did not travel to Santa Cruz, where she resides, to vote, because she is recovering from a recent surgery.
Diego Santilli, favored to win in the Province of Buenos Aires, the country’s most disputed district because it has 38% of Argentina’s voters, said that Juntos por el Cambio is “the opposition with responsibility” in an attempt to detach his candidacy from the ultra-right opposition represented by economist Javier Milei.
This night’s result could lead the government to carry out more changes in its cabinet of ministers, as it already happened in September, after the defeat in the primaries. On that occasion, politicians close to Cristina Kirchner and linked with the interests of provincial governors were appointed. One of the ministers in focus is Martín Guzmán, who is working on a restructuring agreement with the IMF, on account of the US$ 44 billion debt that the country owes to the organization.
Fernández and Cristina have different views on how to deal with debt. The president believes it is necessary to restructure and make the payment, while the vice president is betting on gaining more time and, therefore, being able to use more funds for social spending.
In the economy, the country is facing a difficult task. Inflation is accumulated at 52.5% per year and unemployment at around 20.2 percent, while 40% of the population is in poverty. To contain the figure and social tension, the government bet on a price freeze on 1,400 products that will last until January.
From a political point of view, a defeat of Peronism could mean that the government members are left without the possibility of having a quorum to start a session in the Senate without the support of the opposition. If it also loses seats among deputies, Peronism could see the command of the Chamber, headed today by Sergio Massa, change sides, which would put an opponent in the presidential line of succession.
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