Argentines vote in legislative primaries, with key battleground too close to call
Last edited Mon Aug 14, 2017, 01:53 PM - Edit history (2)
Amid high turnout, Argentines voted on Sunday in a closely watched mid-term primary election.
The primary vote essentially serves as a detailed poll ahead of the October 22 mid-term election for one third of the Senate and half the lower house of Congress, as no major candidates are being challenged from within their own parties.
“It has been a very quiet and peaceful day, with important voter participation; around 74% of the electorate voted,” Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio said.
Particular attention will be given to the results from Buenos Aires Province, with 37% of the nation's 33 million voters.
Former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (for Citizens' Unity, representing center-left Peronists), Education Minister Esteban Bullrich (for Macri's right-wing 'Let's Change' coalition), and Congressman Sergio Massa (for 1Nation, representing anti-Kirchner Peronists), are competing for Senate seats for Buenos Aires Province.
Exit polling shows the race in Buenos Aires Province narrowing considerably, with Fernández de Kirchner and her electoral partner, former Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana, vying for the two senate seats for the majority against Bullrich and controversial ACUMAR environmental agency head Gladys González.
The runner-up would be awarded the third, minority seat.
The nationwide Senate electoral map favors Macri's Let's Change, as it's contesting just 3 of its 17 senators; the pro-Kirchner Front for Victory (FpV) is contesting 20 of its 43 senators.
Let's Change candidates are leading in 10 of 24 districts, including historically conservative ones such as the city of Buenos Aires and the provinces of Córdoba and Mendoza. Former Defense Minister Agustín Rossi, a close ally of Mrs. Kirchner, led an upset victory for his party list in the Santa Fe Province house races.
Citizens' Unity is a new political alliance which Fernández de Kirchner, 64, announced on June 14. The FpV-led alliance seeks to form a broad congressional coalition to check President Mauricio Macri's right-wing administration, which has often bypassed Congress.
Under Macri, regulations and economic subsidies were lifted, effectively shifting the tax burden to the majority and undoing many of the progressive gains made from 2003 to 2015 under the presidencies of Fernández de Kirchner and her late husband and predecessor, Néstor Kirchner.
Unemployment has risen from 5.9% in 2015 to 9.2%, with real wages down nearly 10%, utility rates up by over 500%, budget deficits doubled, and the foreign debt up by over $60 billion.
At: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-13/argentina-primaries-pit-macri-reforms-against-fernandez-comeback
Candidates for the key Buenos Aires Senate race:
·former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (center-left 'Citizens' Unity');
·Education Minister Esteban Bullrich (right-wing, pro-Macri 'Let's Change');
·Congressman Sergio Massa (centrist '1Nation');
·former Transport Minister Florencio Randazzo (center-left 'Fulfill' - disaffected Kirchnerists).
