Argentines vote in primaries, with neo-fascist candidate ahead
Argentina voted in primary elections today that will determine the final candidates for a presidential ballot on October 22nd, and give a clear gauge on the likely final result as the country battles a swirling economic crisis.
Some 27 presidential candidates are running, as well as 4,168 contenders for 130 congressional and 24 senate seats. All candidates need a minimum 1.5% of the vote to be eligible for the general election.
Outgoing President Alberto Fernández decided not to run for re-election as he suffers from rock-bottom approval ratings amid annual inflation of more than 100% - partly the result of a foreign debt crisis inherited from his right-wing predecessor, Mauricio Macri, in 2019.
Headline candidates
The two main political blocs faced internal leadership battles, and the vote determined who will lead the main right-wing opposition coalition Together for Change - in which center-right Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, 57, lost to hard-line former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, 67.
With 65% of the vote counted, Bullrich bested Larreta by 17% to 10.6%.
Bullrich will run against the ruling, center-left coalition Union for the Homeland, where Economy Minister Sergio Massa, 51, trounced leftist challenger Juan Grabois, 40, by 20.8% to 5%.
The primary also revealed how much traction right-wing populist candidate Javier Milei, 52, has gained with voters - with the fiery economist garnering a stunning 32.2%. An admirer of former U.S. President Donald Trump, Milei has attracted voters with an anti-establishment message that has particularly resonated with the young.
Winter of discontent
Over 35 million Argentines were registered to vote in this year's primaries.
Popular discontent depressed turnout somewhat, which at 69% was some 7 points below the last presidential primary in 2019.
Widespread faults with the electronic voting system used in Buenos Aires for that city's local elections led to long lines in some precincts - prompting Federal Judge María Servini de Cubría to announce a criminal probe.
The Change primary in Buenos Aires' mayoral primary - almost tantamount to election outright - pitted right-wing candidate Jorge Macri, 58 (a cousin of the former president), against centrist Senator Martín Lousteau, 52.
With 95% of the vote in, Macri was ahead by 1.4%.
At: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/13/argentinians-set-to-vote-in-presidential-primary-what-to-know
Leading Argentine presidential candidates Sergio Massa (center-left), Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (center-right), Patricia Bullrich (hard-right), and Javier Milei (far-right).
Representing the governing coalition, the pragmatic Massa will face off against the hard-line Bullrich and the neo-fascist Milei in general elections this October.
