Argentina presidential election: Javier Milei vs. Sergio Massa

• Sergio Massa secured 36%+ of the vote in Argentina’s recent presidential election.
• He’ll face far-right candidate Javier Milei in a runoff election.
• Milei’s proposals include abolishing the central bank, adopting the US dollar, and economic reforms.

Sergio Massa, Argentina’s economy minister, has defied expectations by securing more than 36% of the vote in the recent presidential election.

This result has positioned him for a runoff contest against the far-right candidate, Javier Milei.

Massa’s lead was unexpected, given the belief that voters might penalize him for overseeing a financial crisis. Inflation in Argentina has surged to nearly 140%.

With nearly all ballots counted, no candidate had reached the necessary 45% of votes required to win outright.

Consequently, a second round of voting is scheduled for November 19, where voters will choose between Massa, who represents the left-wing Peronist movement, and Milei, a far-right libertarian.

Milei, who had previously topped the primaries in August, secured second place with 30% of the votes, while Patricia Bullrich, a conservative former security minister, came in third with 23.8%.

Following the results, Bullrich criticized Massa, stating, “I will not congratulate someone who has been part of the worst government in Argentina’s history.”

The two other candidates in the election, Juan Schiaretti and Myriam Bregman, trailed behind with 6.8% and 2.7% of the vote, respectively.

In the wake of his unexpected victory, some of Massa’s supporters celebrated in the streets of Buenos Aires.

“What Massa showed was that he was the only candidate that has a serious project for the country,” Luis Esquivel told the media.

“He led a great campaign and the results show that,” explained 27-year-old Juliana Agrofoglio. She added that voters had come together to “confront the fear” she said Mr. Milei had inspired.

Mr. Milei’s ideas, including the elimination of the central bank and adopting the US dollar as Argentina’s currency, resonated with voters seeking a drastic solution to address Argentina’s economic downturn.

Additionally, he has pledged to reduce the number of ministries, streamline government bureaucracy, ease firearm regulations, and limit access to abortion.

Mr. Milei told his supporters that they had witnessed “the most important election in the last 100 years”, adding that Sunday’s vote was “historic” because “Argentines voted for a change”.

Benjamin Gedan, director of the Argentina Project at the Washington-based Wilson Center think tank, said that while many Argentines were keen on radical change, “a lot of Argentines have a lot to lose from the dismantling of the social welfare state” which Mr. Milei proposes.

“If Milei is at rallies wielding a chainsaw, well, at the other end of that chainsaw is people’s quality of life,” Mr. Gedan told AFP news agency.

Mr. Massa meanwhile focused much of his campaign on defending the current government’s credentials.

“Our country is in a complicated situation (…) nevertheless you believed we were the best tool to build a new step in Argentina’s history,” he told his supporters in Buenos Aires.

The 51-year-old emphasized that the austerity measures enacted by his government were a consequence of the IMF debt accrued during the previous center-right administration.

With two candidates holding such opposing views going head-to-head, divisions are expected to intensify in the four weeks leading up to the runoff, in a time when Argentina’s economy is already facing significant challenges.

Whichever candidate emerges victorious in the runoff election will face an enormous task at hand: winning the support of a population weary of politics and yearning for an improvement in their quality of life.

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