October 21, 2023, 9:30 pm (current October 21, 2023, 9:30 pm)
Deputy Milei is considered the favorite for the presidency ©APA/AFP
In the midst of a serious economic crisis, Argentines are electing a new president. Libertarian populist Javier Milei is the favorite in Sunday’s elections. He wants to introduce the US dollar as legal tender, abolish the central bank and many ministries and cut social spending. A vice president and parliament will also be re-elected.
Milei, candidate for the party La Libertad Avanza (Advances of Freedom), is running against Economy Minister Sergio Massa, from the leftist Unión por la Patria (Union for the Fatherland), and former Interior Minister Patricia Bullrich, from the conservative alliance opposition Juntos por el Cambio (Together for the Fatherland).change).
Polling stations open at 8:00 am (1:00 pm CEST) and close at 6:00 pm (11:00 pm CEST). The first results are expected on Monday night. To win the election, a candidate must receive at least 45% of the vote, or 40% of the vote and ten percentage points ahead of the second-place candidate. If neither candidate manages to win in the first round, the two strongest candidates will go to the second round on November 19th. The future president takes office on December 10th.
South America’s second largest economy is in a serious economic crisis: the inflation rate is 138 percent and around 40 percent of the once-rich country’s population lives below the poverty line. Argentina suffers from a bloated state apparatus, low industrial productivity and a large underground economy that deprives the State of much tax revenue. The national currency, the peso, is losing value and the mountain of debt is growing.