Argentines will choose between far-right lawmaker Javier Milei, centre-right coalition candidate Patricia Bullrich and Economy Minister Sergio Massa in this year’s presidential vote, according to results from Sunday’s primary election.
In a format that is unique in the region, Argentines voted Sunday for their favourite among 22 potential presidential candidates, with anti-establishment Milei taking the top spot at more than 30%, with 93% of votes counted.
Bullrich, 67, had about 28% of the vote and 51-year-old lawyer and government minister Massa was third with about 27%.
Deeply unpopular President Alberto Fernandez is not seeking reelection in October as year-on-year inflation runs at 115%, poverty has soared, and the value of the peso has plummeted.
The far-right lawmaker with a soft spot for former US president Donald Trump and Brazil’s ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro went into Sunday’s vote as his Libertad Avanza party’s only candidate.
“We have managed to build this competitive alternative that will put an end to the parasitic, thieving, useless political caste,” Milei said on Sunday evening.
Among other things, Milei has said that he wants to abolish the Central Bank, ban abortion, liberalise the sale of arms and open up a market for the sale of human organs.