Argentines will vote this Sunday in the presidential elections marked by the rise of the far-right and anti-establishment candidate Javier Milei, who has shaken the political governance of a country immersed in an economic crisis that seems endless, with inflation approaching 140% . .

Milei, favorite in the polls, is opposed by the Minister of Economy, the Peronist Sergio Massa, and the conservative Patricia Bullrich.

Voting centers for Argentina’s presidential election closed this Sunday at 6pm local time (9pm GMT), on a day that passed quietly and was marked by the emergence of ultra-liberal candidate Javier Milei.

According to the National Electoral Chamber, election participation at closing time was 74%, although that figure should rise slightly because voters still in line have the right to vote.

Why this Sunday’s elections in Argentina defy political logic

Milei wore his traditional leather jacket and went to vote after noon. A crowd greeted him by throwing flowers and singing happy birthday to him, amid excitement that made it difficult for him to enter and exit the electoral center.

“We are ready to create the best government in history,” declared the La Libertad Avanza candidate, who turned 53 this Sunday.

Boris Morán, a 34-year-old lawyer, told AFP that Milei is “another option, even if many say it is a leap into the void; At least he says what he is going to do and is against something we have protested against all our lives and never changed.”

In a calmer atmosphere, Massa voted in the town of Tigre, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

“Today is a day that forces us to think about the consolidation of forty years of democracy,” said the candidate of the Unión por la Patria (center-left Peronism) coalition at the doors of the electoral center.

Bullrich, a former security minister and candidate for the centre-right alliance Together for Change, was later voted in surrounded by supporters. “The goal is not only to participate in the second round, but also to win the elections,” he told reporters.

With inflation skyrocketing to nearly 140% in 12 months and poverty rising to more than 40% of the population, voters are arriving exhausted at an election that for the first time in decades will see three competing candidates instead of two major candidates. forces.

Catalina Escudero, a 36-year-old teacher at a voting center, said she has no hope for a “magical change.”

“But I do hope that whoever wins understands that there are 45 million people in the boat and that you can’t do crazy things without measuring the consequences,” he continued. (JO)