The left-wing candidate surprisingly won the first round of elections in Argentina. In mid-November he will have to face a libertarian populist in the runoff election.
Contrary to all predictions, government candidate Sergio Massa surprisingly won the first round of the presidential election in Argentina. The economics minister from the left-wing Unión por la Patria (Union for the Fatherland) received 36.68 percent of the vote, as the electoral office announced on Monday after almost all votes had been counted. In second place with 29.98 percent was the libertarian populist Javier Milei from the party La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances), who had previously been considered the clear favorite.
Former Interior Minister Patricia Bullrich from the conservative opposition alliance Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) only achieved 23.83 percent. Massa and Milei will therefore compete against each other in a runoff election on November 19th. The future president will be sworn in on December 10th.
“On November 19th we have to decide whether we want to build a country that includes everyone or a country in which everyone only cares about themselves,” Massa wrote on the news platform X, formerly Twitter, after his election victory. “I am there for everyone, regardless of their beliefs, religion or social background.”
Triple-digit inflation rate
South America’s second largest economy is in a deep economic crisis: the inflation rate is 138 percent, and around 40 percent of the people in the once rich country live below the poverty line. Argentina suffers from a bloated state apparatus, low industrial productivity and a large shadow 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 his victory in 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 mode.
Massa, on the other hand, relied on the well-rehearsed campaign machine of the ruling Peronists and recently reached deep into the state coffers to keep voters happy. He ordered mass new hires in the public sector, approved higher income tax allowances and granted one-off payments for employees and pensioners. According to media reports, Massa has pumped the equivalent of several billion euros into the economy in recent months, around 1.5 percent of gross domestic product.
Drums for Massa
The Peronists have set the tone in Argentina for over 20 years, the state intervenes massively in the economy, public services are heavily subsidized and in many provinces there are more people employed in the public sector than in the private sector. Before the election, trade unions and state-owned companies close to the government rallied for Massa and warned of service cuts, job losses and rising prices if the ultra-liberal Milei came to power.
Despite Massa’s victory in the first round, the outcome of the runoff election is again completely open. At least part of the conservative and market-liberal electorate of the losing candidate Bullrich could defect to Milei in the second round. The controversial economist has already changed the political map in Argentina: He established the liberals as the third force in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
The race for the runoff election is now open. On election night, Milei reached out to Bullrich’s conservative supporters. “Let’s stop the aggression and attacks,” he said. “If we work together, we can win and take back our country. If we work together, we can end corruption.”
