Candidates in Argentina are ending the election campaign in a climate of uncertainty and strong rejection
After months of campaigning, the two Argentine presidential candidates who will compete against each other in the elections next Sunday (19th) are ending their campaign.
At the events on Thursday (16), the speeches of Sergio Massa and Javier Milei focused on Try to convince undecided voterswhich given a c. can be decisive for the resultsuncertain time.
Two days before the second round of voting, the most important polls show voting intentions close resultswith a technical draw and a slight advantage for Milei.
Adding to the uncertainty, voters will also vote under the theme of “choice.” Climate of fear and anger, on both sides. You Rejection rates for both candidates over 50%.
“We are facing one of the most aggressive campaigns ever and the polarization of society has become even stronger,” Paola Zubán, director of the consultancy Zubán, Córdoba y Asociados, told AFP, predicting a very close result. “It will be a ballot election.”
1 of 2 Sergio Massa holds a stuffed lion during a campaign closing ceremony at a school in Buenos Aires on November 16, 2023. — Photo: Argentine Ministry of Economy via Portal Sergio Massa holds a stuffed lion during a campaign closing ceremony at a school in Buenos Aires , on November 16, 2023. Photo: Argentine Ministry of Economy via Portal
To conclude his campaign, Sergio Massa decided to hold a series of events in Buenos Aires aimed at young and old people. He spoke to students at a school in the center of the capital and visited a 104yearold woman.
Javier Milei from the Liberdade Avança coalition traveled to the province of Córdoba, where there is strong resistance to Peronism and therefore to the current government.
There, the opposition candidate led a rally accompanied by Patrícia Bullrich, a rightwing candidate who came third in the first round of voting and declared her support for Milei days later.
2 of 2 Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei during the closing ceremony of the second round of voting in Cordoba, Argentina, November 16, 2023. — Photo: Matias Baglietto/ Portal Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei during an event marking the closing of the second round of voting in Cordoba, Argentina, on November 16, 2023. — Photo: Matias Baglietto/ Portal
During the second round of elections, Javier Milei, the controversial candidate who defines himself as an “anarchocapitalist” and promises to dollarize the economy, in addition to proposals that reduce the role of the state in areas such as health and education, tried to moderate the tone.
Sergio Massa, the Peronist candidate supported by the current government to which he belongs as holder of the economic portfolio, tried to avoid the target of the attacks that characterized his election campaign in the first round, especially because he commanded the economic portfolio during a of the worst economic crises in the country’s recent history.
In the last debate between the two candidates on Sunday (12), pundits and the country’s press pointed to a clear victory for Sergio Massa, who adopted a more sober and challenging tone, pushing Milei to the wall and managing to reinforce his arguments to refute angry rivals. and without being able to conclude their own arguments.
However, there are doubts as to whether the debate will be reflected in the polls a week before the election.
On Thursday (16), hours before the official end of the election campaign, Milei’s party reported to the Argentine electoral court an alleged attempt to manipulate the ballot boxes during the first round of voting by the country’s police forces in favor of Sergio Massa.
In the complaint cited by Milei’s sister, the party calls for precautions to protect ballot boxes but provided no evidence of the alleged fraud, according to local press.