Argentinian president Alberto Fernandez (left) and the leader of the Frente de Todos party Kristina Fernandez (right). File photo.
With 98.98% of the votes counted, Argentina’s right-wing opposition coalition Juntos por el Cambio leads the elections held on Sunday, November 14. The coalition obtained a majority in the Senate, according to ultra-conservative news outlet Clarin.
At press time, Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) has 42.18% of the national deputies, while the Frente de Todos (the Peronist and Kirchnerist coalition that supports current President Alberto Fernández) retains only 33.87% of deputies. As a result, the Peronist coalition will lose the majority that it has held in the Senate for almost 40 years.
This means that, by securing 118 seats in December, when the new legislative term begins, Frente de Todos will maintain extreme parity—since Juntos por el Cambio was able to guarantee 116 seats—which will force Peronism to seek agreements with provincial parties in order to reach a quorum of 129 legislators needed to enable debates and enact laws.
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For the Senate vote, with 99.14% counted, Juntos por el Cambio received 46.8% of votes while Frente de Todos barely achieved 27.9%.
In this way, the Frente de Todos will present a bench of 35 senators (until December there will be 41), while Juntos por el Cambio, will seat 31 representatives (25 until December).
For provincial legislatures, according to Pagina|12, the results are as follows: Juntos por el Cambio obtained 39.3% of votes compared to 36.1% for Frente de Todos in terms of deputies. For senators, the opposition coalition received 44.4% of the votes compared to 35.4% for Peronism.
Argentinian journalist and political analyst Felipe Yapur wrote for Página|12 that “with the defining trends of the legislative elections now clear, President Alberto Fernández announced the beginning of a new stage of his government that—all signs indicate—will continue to be as challenging and difficult as the first half. However, not to the magnitude predicted by the opposition that, conveniently, continues to forget the economic crisis that they generated in the country. The result of this legislative election is rather bittersweet in that it grants… the possibility for Fernández’ government to keep the condition of the first minority in the lower house, although it lost its majority in the Senate.”
Juntos por el Cambio received a greater total of votes overall, with a difference of around 8.8% more than the Frente de Todos.
Featured image: Argentinian President Alberto Fernández (left) and Vice President and the leader of the Frente de Todos coalition Cristina Fernández (right). File photo.
(Misión Verdad) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
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