President bashed in primary election

BUENOS AIRES — Facing widespread discontent over austerity measures and low growth, Argentine President Mauricio Macri was snubbed by voters who appeared to hand a resounding primary victory to a ticket with his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez.

The preliminary results from Sunday’s voting suggest the conservative Macri will face an uphill battle going into general elections in October, marking a sharp turnaround from just under four years ago when the country’s leftleaning era appeared to be coming to a definitive end.

With 99% of polling stations tallied Monday, official results gave the presidential slate headed by Alberto Fernandez and his vice presidential running mate, Cristina Fernandez, about 48% of the votes in a primary vote featuring 10 candidates. Macri and his running mate, Miguel Angel Pichetto, had 32% — a wide margin that revealed the depth of Macri’s weakness, potentially positioning the Fernandez team to win in the first round of a general election voting on Oct. 27.

“We’ve had a bad election and that obligates us to redouble our efforts so that in October we will continue with change,” Macri said in a late night address.

Probusiness Macri has the support of financial markets and Washington, but has lost popularity amid a deep economic crisis that drove the inflation rate to nearly 50% last year and slashed Argentines’ purchasing power.

The Fernandez ticket, whose two members are not related, contends Macri must be defeated so they can fight the poverty and homelessness that they blame on his policies.