The victory of the centre-right Alliance for Change means two difficult final years in office for the president, who must deal with the acute social crisis and also seek a debt refinancing agreement with the International Monetary Fund to stabilize the economy. It could also exacerbate divisions within the ruling coalition.
The Front for All coalition led by Fernandez, which is made up of a group of Peronist and leftist parties, was able to pass laws by controlling the Senate while counting on the support of independents in the House of Representatives, where the coalition had a strong minority, the Associated Press reported.
According to the official count, the opposition received 40.1% of the vote in the province of Buenos Aires, the largest demographic in the country, while the president’s coalition received 38.4%. She also led Together for Change in Santa Fe, Cordoba and Buenos Aires, other areas of significant electoral weight.
Voters chose 127 deputies, representing half of the House of Representatives, and 24 senators in eight districts, one-third of the Senate.
The result was seen as a “punitive” vote against Fernandez’s government over unemployment and other hardships that accompanied Argentina’s 10% plunge last year along with persistently high inflation. More than 40% of the country’s 45 million people live in poverty, unemployment is close to 10%, and inflation in October hit an annual rate of nearly 42%.
Maria Eugenia Vidal, a leader in the opposition coalition that was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in Buenos Aires, said she was moved by the result.
“Millions of Argentines across the country said ‘enough’… they said ‘enough’ and overcame sadness, frustration and anger,” Vidal said.
In a recorded message, the Argentine president admitted he had made mistakes, but said the economy was growing by about 9% this year and predicted that the 2020 loss would be offset by early 2022. That would put an end to the “difficult phase” brought by the recession, which has thrown Fernandez He blamed it on his predecessor, and because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The government has also been affected by perceptions of growing insecurity and a series of scandals including violations by Fernandez and his associates of epidemiological sanitary restrictions. He also had public disagreements with the vice president, former president Cristina Fernandez.
Analysts said the politicians, who are unrelated, are having a hard time.
“Both Fernandez and Cristina will be weakened. “Fernandez is a weak and unpopular president, and if she resigns, she will be left with limited popular support and persistent and enduring opposition to Cristina and her group,” said Danielle Kerner, Latin America director at the Eurasia Group consultancy.
The difficult obstacle is the need for an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to refinance the approximately $45 billion debt left by the previous government led by conservative President Mauricio Macri in 2015-2019.
Cristina Fernandez has promoted Fernandez’s presidential candidacy in his successful run to defeat Macri in the 2019 election, but they have fallen out over economic policy and IMF negotiations. The president is calling for no delay in reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to calm financial markets, which could imply cuts in public spending that run counter to the vision of his more popular vice president.
The government will have to rethink many things. “Peronism has never ruled in an alliance before,” said Roberto Bachmann, director of the Center for the Study of Public Opinion. “Peronism has to find its own internal mechanism to determine the course, the economic plan, how to end the IMF case.”
FKN