10/23/2023 4:06 am (act. 10/23/2023 4:10 am)
Massa was previously Minister of Economy ©APA/Ministry of Economy of Argentina
In the presidential elections in Argentina, government candidate Sergio Massa is surprisingly in first place. The economy minister of the left-wing Unión por la Patria (Homeland Union) received around 36 percent of the votes, the electoral office announced on Sunday night (local time), after counting around 80 percent of the votes. Libertarian populist Javier Milei, previously considered the favorite, came in second with 30 percent. Both go to the second round.
This will happen on November 19th. The new president takes office on December 10th. “Argentina needs stability and predictability,” wrote Massa on platform X, formerly Twitter, after voting. Milei said: “We are capable of forming the best government in history.”
Former Interior Minister Patricia Bullrich, from the conservative opposition alliance Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change), came third; she only achieved 24 percent.
Argentina, the second largest economy in South America, is in a deep economic crisis: the inflation rate is 138% and around 40% of the population of the once-rich country 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, continues to lose value against the US dollar and the mountain of debt is constantly growing.
After winning the primaries, Milei was considered the favorite in the first round of voting. The self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” wants to introduce the US dollar as legal tender, abolish the central bank and many ministries and radically cut social spending. This is particularly well received by young people, who often only know life in constant crisis.
Massa, on the other hand, has trusted the well-rehearsed campaign machine of the Peronists in power and has recently tapped deep into the state treasury to keep voters happy. He ordered mass new hiring in the public sector, approved higher tax deductions and granted one-off payments to employees and pensioners.
Despite Massa’s victory in the first round, the dispute in the second round is open again. At least part of defeated candidate Bullrich’s conservative and market liberal electorate could defect to Milei in the second round.
“This is a great triumph for us. The millions who voted for us are hopeful that there will be change,” said Milei’s vice-presidential candidate, Victoria Villarruel. “Sergio Massa represents the old, we are the change.”