Peronist Comes in First in Argentina Primaries
Argentinian President Mauricio Macri conceded defeat Sunday night in the country’s primaries, leading to Oct. 27 general elections, against opposition ticket Alberto Fernandez and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
“We’ve suffered a bad election,” right-winger Macri said Sunday night, as preliminary results gave the ticket Fernandez-Fernandez of the Front of All coalition a 15 point lead over the right-wing president.
According to the government’s official results, Fernandez obtained 47.22 percent of the votes, while Macri followed loosely behind with 32.36 percent and center-right Roberto Lavagna with 8.39 percent.
“We are here to create a new Argentina, not to continue the past model, but to end this time of lies and give a new horizon…Argentinians realized we are the change, not them,” Fernandez said during his victory speech in Buenos Aires.
Meanwhile, Axel Kicillof, the Front of All candidate for governor of Buenos Aires’ province, one of the most important of the country and key for general elections, won with over 17 points over Macri’s candidate Maria Eugenia Vidal.
The post-electoral atmosphere included allegations of “foul-play,” as no results were presented for almost three hours after the expected time.
Senator and former president Cristina Kirchner urged the government not to repeat the delay, and the alleged differences between the figures of the provisional scrutiny and the final results, that was experienced in 2017.
Peronist candidate Fernandez has promised access to free medicines for retirees and better wages for workers while hammering Macri for the uptick in poverty and unemployment as the country grapples with recession and 55 percent inflation.
To win the presidency outright in October, a candidate needs at least 45 percent of the vote or 40 percent and a difference of 10 percentage points over the second-place runner. If there’s no clear winner, voters will return for a run-off on Nov. 24.
Elsewhere in Latin America, the right-wing candidate won election as president of Guatemala as the center-left candidate failed to inspire voters; a majority of Guatemalan voters abstained from the vote.
Photo and story from Telesur English
