Argentina opposition leads in congressional mid-term primaries
Last edited Mon Sep 13, 2021, 12:00 AM - Edit history (1)
Argentina's main opposition coalition held leads in congressional primary elections on Sunday, early results showed, indicating a strong challenge to the ruling Peronist coalition.
Nationally, and with over 90% of the vote counted, the conservative Together for Change coalition had a strong lead of 41% to 30% for the ruling Front for All in House races - and 45% to 29% in Senate races.
The primary vote, in which voting is mandatory, is an acid test for President Alberto Fernández's government ahead of the November 14 midterm ballot - where half the seats in the Chamber of Deputies are up for grabs, as well as one third in the Senate.
Over 34 million Argentines were eligible to vote, with turnout (over 70%) confounding pessimistic projections.
The government now faces a challenge to its majority in the Senate and its working majority in the Lower House - where it has a slim lead of some five seats over the main opposition party.
Were the results replicated in November, the Front for All would lose 9 of its 120 House seats, and 6 of its 41 Senate seats; Together for Change would add 2 to its 115 House seats, and 5 to its 25 Senate seats.
A lengthy recession, rampant inflation and rising poverty have hurt public support for the government, despite recent signs of an economic recovery and falling coronavirus cases.
GDP, which fell 10% in 2020, recovered 9.7% in the first half of 2021.
And a ramped-up vaccination program - 84% of adults have had at least one dose - similarly overcame a slow start, curbing new daily Covid-19 cases by over 90% since late May.
"We had 99 normal days - and then the pandemic struck," Fernández lamented during a recent interview.
At: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentines-head-polls-litmus-test-peronists-2021-09-12/
Argentine President Alberto Fernández enjoys lunch with his center-left coalition's lead congressional candidate for Buenos Aires, Leandro Santoro, after voting in today's mid-term primaries.
Today's vote bode poorly for Fernández administration - in its first federal electoral test against the right-wing opposition ahead of midterm elections on November 14.
The addition this year of some 3,000 polling locations helped keep turnout high, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
