Former President Supports Patricia Bullrich for Argentina Presidency; The candidate is in third place in the polls, behind Massa and Milei
Former Argentine President Mauricio Macri said on Tuesday (September 26, 2023) that the country’s economy minister and presidential candidate, Sergio Massa, had “a great capacity for evil” and had “made a mistake” as deputy president in “half” of his Government blocks changes. Macri is supporting Patricia Bullrich in the October 22 elections.
“Massa must be appreciated for his ability to confuse and seduce everyone,” Macri said, quoted by the newspaper La Nación. The former president called on the leaders of Bullrich’s “Juntos por el Cambio” (Together for Change, in Portuguese) coalition to “be careful and distance themselves” from Massa, “at least until the end of the election campaign.”
Javier Milei leads the voting intention polls for the 1st round, but the decision on who will be the next Argentine president must be left to the 2nd round, scheduled for November 19th.
According to a poll published on September 7 by the consulting firm Analogías, Milei has 31.1% of the vote. In second place is Massa with 28.1%. Patricia Bullrich has 21.2%. Here is the complete research (PDF 881 kB).
To be elected in Argentina in the first round, the candidate must:
- received at least 45% of the valid votes; or
- have at least 40% of the vote with a lead of 10 percentage points over second place.
According to Macri, “you don’t have to believe in the research,” but in the “daily measurements that mark a trend.” The former Argentine president said he believes Bullrich can reach the second round and compete with Milei for the presidency.
Javier Milei is 52 years old and led the August 13, 2023 primary with 30.4% of the vote. He is rightwing and has liberal ideas about the economy. He advocates closing the country’s central bank and swapping the peso for the US dollar. He is running for the coalition “La Libertad Avanza” (in Portuguese: Advances in Freedom). He defines himself as an “anarchocapitalist” and “libertarian.”
Sergio Tomás Massa, 51 years old, graduated in law from the University of Belgrano. His political career began in 1999 when he was elected Provincial Deputy of Buenos Aires. Three years later, in 2002, he was appointed head of Anses (National Social Security Agency) by then Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde. He held the position for 5 years.
In 2007, Massa, already a supporter of Kirchnerism a leftwing political ideology related to former President Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Kirchner, Argentina’s current vice president was elected mayor of the city of Tigre in Buenos Aires province .
He left his position after being appointed chief of staff to thenPresident Cristina Kirchner in July 2009. He remained in this role for almost a year. After this period, Massa returned to mayor of Tigre and was reelected in 2011. He was also a national MP from 2013 to 2017 and from 2019 to 2022.
On August 3, 2022, Massa resigned his position as deputy and became the 3rd Minister of Economy under the current President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández.
Within one year of operation, Massa announced the repurchase of $1 billion of government bonds, the increase of the income tax exemption limit by 125% and even the price freeze in order to control and mitigate the impact of inflation on the population. He agreed with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to renegotiate $44 billion in debt repayments.
Read more about who the presidential candidates are in the election on October 22, 2023 in Argentina here.