Fernandez government loses majority in Senate in Argentine legislative elections | Globalism

In the province of Buenos Aires, the country’s largest electoral body, the Main Opposition Alliance, called Together for Change, received 40.1% of the vote. The Todos Front coalition, the president, got 38.4%.

She also led Together for Change in Santa Fe, Cordoba, Buenos Aires, and other areas of significant electoral weight.

The voter turnout was 71%, the lowest since the return of democracy.

The voters chose 127 deputies, representing half of the parliament’s seats, and 24 members in eight governorates, or one-third of the parliament.

The inauguration of the new parliamentarians is scheduled for December.

This will be the first time since the return of democracy in Argentina, in 1983, that the head of the Peronist political trend will need allies in the Legislative Council to be able to pass laws, according to the newspaper “Clarin”.

The victory of the centre-right Alliance for Change will mean that Fernandez will struggle in the last two years of the president’s term. Argentina must deal with an inflation crisis and also seek a debt refinancing agreement with the International Monetary Fund to stabilize the economy. There is also the possibility of intensifying divisions within the ruling coalition.

In Argentina, the Vice President is also the President of the Senate. Therefore, the position is occupied by Christina Kirchner.

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 was at an annual rate of nearly 42%.

Maria Eugenia Vidal, the leader of the opposition coalition elected in the Chamber of Deputies in the city of Buenos Aires, said she was impressed by the result.

“Millions of Argentines across the country said ‘Enough’, ‘Enough’, and overcame sadness, frustration and anger,” Vidal said.

In the country’s capital, there was also a second opposition force that fared well at the polls: Front A Liberdade Avansa, by economist Javier Meli, received 17% of the vote.

In a recorded message, the Argentine president admitted he had made mistakes, but said the economy is growing by about 9% this year and predicted that the 2020 loss would be offset by early 2022.

Fernandez said this would end a “very difficult phase” caused by the recession, which he attributes to his predecessor, and the coronavirus pandemic.

The government impeded the perception of growing insecurity and a series of scandals (at the height of the epidemic, when Argentina imposed a lockdown, Fernandez and those close to him attended a birthday party at the official residence).

He also had Public disagreements with the Vice President, former President Christina Kirchner. Analysts said the politicians are having a tough time.

The difficult obstacle is the need for an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to refinance the approximately $45 billion debt left over by the previous government, led by Mauricio Macri from 2015 to 2019.

Cristina Fernandez has promoted Fernandez’s candidacy for president in her successful campaign to defeat Macri in the 2019 elections, but they differ on economic policy and negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

The president advocates not delaying an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to calm financial markets, which could mean cutting public spending.