To become the new president of Argentina, ultraliberal candidate Javier Milei (La Libertad Avanza) repeated a feat achieved only by Mauricio Macri in 2015: he reached the second round in second place and turned the vote around in this Sunday’s election (19).
After surprising with first place in the Argentine caucuses, Milei did not repeat his lead in the first round dispute, on October 22, and obtained 29.98% of the votes for the position, against 36.68% of the leader, the government Sergio Massa .
The turn
Eight years ago, Macri’s turn represented not only the only one in Argentine presidential elections since redemocratization in 1983, but also a solitary interruption of Peronism in the federal government in the last two decades. This feat has now been repeated by Milei.
Facing a representative of the government at the time, Daniel Scioli, Macri had 34.15% of the votes in the first round, against 37.08% for his opponent. Just over 700,000 votes separated the candidates — in the first round, 1.7 million voters separated Massa from Milei.
In the definitive confrontation, Macri scored 51.34%. In 2019, again against a Peronist (the current president, Alberto Fernández), he was not re-elected.
Professor Sara Toledo, from the Institute of International Relations at the University of São Paulo (IRI-USP), recalls that there was a “context of dissatisfaction with the Kirchnerist polarization discourse” in 2015. Today, the movement has vice-president Cristina Kirchner its main exponent.
“Macri was elected with a lot of support from residents of urban areas and young people tired of a divisive discourse, at the time heavily sung by Kirchnerism”, he says.
Second in the first round, but no second round
In 2003, Nestor Kirchner became president after finishing the first round behind Carlos Menem. As the leader withdrew from the candidacy in the second round, however, Kirchner did not need a turnaround to triumph.
In other elections for the Presidency of Argentina, the winner was repeated or the dispute was defined in a single round.
By way of comparison, in Brazil, the main democracy in Latin America, there has been no change in presidential elections since redemocratization.
*With information from Leonardo Rodrigues
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
