Elections advance in Argentina, seeking change amid economic turmoil

The Argentines vote this Sunday, in a primary to choose the candidates for the October general elections that will give a hint of how eager they are for a change in a country that suffers from one of the worst inflation rates in the world.

More than 35 million people are summoned to participate in the Open, Simultaneous and Mandatory Primaries (PASO) that function as a kind of electoral test to gauge the possibilities of the main leaders for the presidential elections on October 22.

The primaries will also define the candidates to occupy 24 seats in the Senate and 130 for national deputies, in addition to the candidates for mayor of the City of Buenos Aires and the government of the province of the same name, among other positions. Voting is mandatory.

Several pre-candidates deposited their votes at the polls calling on citizens to participate in fear that, due to a climate of disappointment with the political class, abstention is higher than in other primaries held in the past. President Alberto Fernández, who is not seeking re-election due to his falling image in the polls, stated that “We have been democracy for 40 years and today should be a day of joy for the elections… let’s all go vote because it is the way to exercise our rights.”

The anger of the population after years of inflation —the last measurement in June gave 115% year-on-year—which threw the 40% of the population to poverty, added to insecurity and other chronic problems of the Argentine economy (shortage of dollars and indebtedness) have marked the pulse of an electoral campaign with an open end.

The center-right opposition coalition Juntos por el Cambio appears better profiled in the polls to recover the political power it lost in 2019 at the hands of Peronism.

For this reason, there is great expectation for the primary between the mayor of the capital, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, and the former Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich.

The conservative former president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) —a political reference of that last leader—, called on Argentines to mobilize “to leave behind an era that has brought us much hurt and sadness.”

The vote will also show the electoral potential of the ruling Peronism, which will compete under the name Unión por la Patria, after four years in office of Alberto Fernández, who will not seek re-election given his unpopularity.

In this space, the polls take it for granted that the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, will win out over the leftist social leader Juan Grabois.

With the intention of putting the electoral hegemony of the two main coalitions in check, the ultra-liberal economist Javier Milei, from La Libertad Avanza, appears, proposing to dollarize the economy and close the Central Bank. An admirer of Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump, Milei unites the vote of the outraged with traditional politicians, especially among the youngest.

To put a candidate in the presidential race, the political forces must reach at least the 1.5% of the valid votes.

Voting began at 8:00 in the morning (11:00 GMT). In various polling stations in the capital, where the electronic ballot is used to elect mayoral candidates, some technical problems with the machines were evident, which would lead to an extension of the closing hours of the elections.

The electoral justice system is expected to release the official counts no earlier than 10:00 p.m. (01:00 GMT).

Source: AP