An exhausted Argentina has said no to Peronist Sergio Massa in the elections. The Unión por la Patria candidate, current Minister of Economy of a country in crisis, will not reach the Casa Rosada, a goal that he has pursued since his youth and that he already tried to achieve in 2015. The candidate spoke out in favor of recognizing the defeat against the eight the night before the official results were announced. With a count of 95%, Peronism suffered its worst defeat: Massa received 44% of the vote, compared to 56% for the far-right Javier Milei, who will be president of Argentina from December 10th. “We have presented to the elected president and the president of the nation the responsibility of tomorrow to implement liaison and transition mechanisms for democratic change,” said Massa from the campaign headquarters in the city of Buenos Aires, explaining that for him “A stage ends” in his political life.
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“I contacted Javier Milei to congratulate him because he is the president elected by the majority for the next four years. “The most important thing we must leave to Argentinians is the message that coexistence, dialogue and respect for peace are the best path we can take in the face of so much violence and disqualification,” he said from the stage where he was was accompanied by his family and Peronist leaders such as his vice president Agustín Rossi or the elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof. Massa also highlighted the functioning of the country’s “strong, solid and transparent” electoral system amid allegations of possible electoral fraud spread by Milei’s La Libertad Avanza party in the final days of the campaign.
Outside the campaign headquarters, hundreds of people who had been waiting for the results since the afternoon continued their speeches with drums and hoisting flags from union groups and social organizations. Shortly before the Peronists admitted defeat, some were already expressing concern. Maia Moreira, 38, arrived from Lanús on the outskirts of Buenos Aires around four o’clock in the afternoon. She was “very excited” and it was “time to wait for the results,” she said: “Whatever they may be.” “It is the most important election since the return to democracy,” he said.
It wasn’t easy for Massa. For more than a year, the current Minister of Economy has been leading the economy of a country that is not growing, where inflation exceeds 142% year-on-year and where 40% of residents live in poverty and with minimal reserves. As holder of the portfolio, he had to renegotiate payments with the International Monetary Fund for $44 billion in debt taken on by President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019). He was therefore an unlikely candidate.
Massa, a 51-year-old lawyer, has a political career spanning more than 30 years. He started out as a member of the right-wing liberal Union of the Democratic Center (UCD). From there he switched to Peronism and had the ability to adapt to the times. He was a Menemist, then a Duhaldist, a Kirchnerist and an anti-Kirchnerist. He founded his party, the Frente Renovador, and ran in the 2015 presidential election; He came third and rejoined Kirchnerism. With him as president, Peronism would have taken a turn toward the center-right. Now he has to reposition himself in the opposition.
“There were two ways. We choose to defend the security system in the hands of the state, we choose to promote and defend public education and health as core values, we choose to defend the national industry, the Argentine workforce, our SMEs, workers with rights … Because it is the best way to build prosperity, social advancement and progress for our nation,” said Massa. He then added: “Argentinians have chosen a different path and from tomorrow the responsibility to provide certainty and convey guarantees about the political, social and economic functioning of Argentina will be the responsibility of the new president, and we hope that he will do this.”
During the election campaign, many wondered what the Peronist minister could do differently if he came to the Casa Rosada to save a failing economy. He came third in the August primary, one of the worst elections for Peronism in recent years. He came back in the first round, adding 9.5 million votes and finishing in first place with 37% of support. This Sunday the defeat was devastating: they were 12 points behind their rival. The average of the last polls analyzed by EL PAÍS did not predict a clear victory.
However, the Peronist had managed to inspire part of the electorate. The support he received from insiders and outsiders can be explained in part by the candidate before him, an ultra-liberal economist who has challenged many of the consensus built over 40 years of democracy, such as public education and health care and the condemnation of Terrorism. State during the last dictatorship, recognized by the judiciary. Massa promised a government of “national unity”, a stronger and more transparent state and the guarantee of the values attacked by Milei.
“I continue to believe that Argentina needs state political agreements,” he assured on stage, where he was not accompanied by either of the two main figures of the ruling party: neither President Alberto Fernández nor Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, both of whom were facing each other. for months and away from the campaign. “I tried to do my best in this campaign. I did it with conviction because I love Argentina deeply. “I love Argentina almost as much and with the same intensity as I love my children,” he said. “Let the new generations come. “We need thousands and thousands of young people to continue to fall in love with the idea that this is a great country.” An unknown scenario is emerging in Argentina.