Far-right populist Javier Milei won the most votes in Sunday’s primary election to choose presidential candidates for October’s general election in Argentina, a country beset by economic problems.
Milei, a fan of former US President Donald Trump, says Argentina’s Central Bank should be abolished, thinks climate change is a lie, characterizes sex education as a ploy to destroy the family, believes the sale of human organs should be legal and want to make it easier to own firearms.
Votes were still being counted at the end of the day on Sunday, but analysts agree that the rising candidate, who gained notoriety for his furious railing against the “political caste”, is a real candidate for the country’s presidency.
With around 92% of the polling stations counted, Milei won around 30% of the total votes, according to the official results. Candidates from the main opposition coalition, Together for Change, got 28% and the current government coalition, União pela Pátria, got 27%.
While celebrating at the polling station, Milei vowed to put an end to “the parasitic, corrupt and worthless political caste” in the country.
“Today we took the first step towards the reconstruction of Argentina,” he said. “A different Argentina is impossible with the same people as always,” she added.
Ahead of the election, analysts warned that a better-than-expected result for Milei, 52, would likely upset financial markets and cause the value of the Argentine peso to fall sharply, largely due to uncertainty over economic policies. What could I have. adopt., if he were to become president.
While Sunday’s vote was officially to choose candidates for various political blocs, it was also seen as a national survey of the candidates’ position against Argentines for the October elections.
Milei, who has been a deputy in the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Congress since 2021, had no competitor in the presidential primaries of his Avance de la Libertad party.
Discontent is widespread in Argentina, which is struggling with annual inflation of more than 100%, rising poverty and a rapidly devaluing currency. Milei drew support by calling for the peso to be replaced by the US dollar.
In the main opposition coalition, Juntos por el Cambio, voters also seemed set to shift further to the right, as former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich easily defeated a more centrist candidate, Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.
The governing coalition, União pela Pátria, was defeated by voters due to the economic crisis, coming third in the total number of votes. Unsurprisingly, Economy Minister Sergio Massa became the coalition’s presidential candidate, easily defeating leftist Juan Grabois.
“We have 60 days to change these elections,” Massa told supporters.
Milei’s result suggests that many voters are sending the message that they are tired of the two coalitions that have dominated the Argentine political landscape for years.
The results “reflect the fatigue of the people with political leadership and the lack of solutions within the spaces that have been in power consecutively,” said Mariel Fornoni, director of Management and Fit, a political consultancy.
Source: TSF
