Argentina takes step to the left
LANDSLIDE: PERONIST LEADER WINS ELECTION OUTRIGHT
The times ahead are not easy, incoming president tells supporters.
Argentina’s Peronists swept back into power on Sunday, ousting conservative president Mauricio Macri in an election result that shifts Latin America’s No 3 economy firmly back toward the left after it was battered by economic crisis.
Alberto Fernandez had 47.79% of the vote, ahead of Macri’s 40.71%, with more than 90% of ballots counted, putting the centre-left challenger over the 45% threshold to avoid a runoff and win the election outright.
Macri, speaking at his election party, conceded the race and congratulated Fernandez. He invited Fernandez to the presidential palace yesterday to discuss an orderly transition, seen as essential for Argentina’s shaky economy and markets.
Fernandez, speaking afterwards alongside running mate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, said he would meet Macri and collaborate with the outgoing leader “in any way we can”.
“The times ahead are not easy,” he told cheering supporters at his election party. “But, of course, we will collaborate in everything we can, because the only thing that concerns us is that Argentines stop suffering once and for all.”
The mood was more muted across the city at Macri’s election camp, even though his “Together for Change” coalition performed better than many polls expected.
“This resounding victory in the first round is a very clear expression of the Argentine people,” said Felipe Sola, one of Fernandez’s closest advisers.
A candidate needs 45% of the vote, or 40% with a 10-point lead over the runner-up, to avoid a second round.
Fernandez had been the heavy favourite since winning a landslide victory in primaries in August.
The vote will have far-reaching implications. Argentina is one of the world’s top grain exporters, is stirring the energy world with its huge Vaca Muerta shale field and is on the cusp of restructuring talks with creditors over $100 billion in debt.
Fernandez, a relative unknown outside Argentine political circles until this year, held a 20-point lead in most opinion polls.
Argentina has been in the grip of recession for most of the past year, the outlook for growth darkening, annual inflation above 50%, job numbers down and poverty up sharply.
–