First round shock in Argentina poll

CRISTINA KIRCHNER’S political project was thrown into crisis in the early hours of yesterday as Daniel Scioli, her chosen successor as president of Argentina, failed to win the first round of the election. Mr Scioli’s rival Mauricio Macri, a businessfriendly reformer, surged in the polls to force a run off – to the visible shock of political analysts, crowds on the street, and Mr Scioli’s team.

“We’ve had to call the venue and cancel the celebratory party,” one of his advisers muttered darkly, as inside the Luna Park concert hall – where a raucous fiesta had been envisaged – people broke down in floods of tears, or else drifted away, into the Buenos Aires night.

The two men will come face-to-face at a debate on November 15.