Reuters/Buenos Aires
Argentines yesterday voted for a new president in an election that will shape the recovery of the South American country’s troubled economy, with outgoing leader Cristina Fernandez’s candidate the favourite to win on a platform of “gradual change”.
Voting was orderly in polling stations in the capital Buenos Aires where children joined their parents in line and there were no reports of logistical problems from the country’s jungle north to its windswept Patagonian plains in the south.
Opinion polls show Daniel Scioli of the leftist Front for Victory ruling party with a strong lead over his rivals, although he cannot be sure of an outright win and may be forced into a runoff vote next month.
In the town of San Justo west of the capital, Fernandez is adored by the poor and working class for generous welfare handouts and protectionist policies but reviled by others for strangling the economy after a commodities-fuelled boom ended.
Scioli and his main challengers all propose policy changes to kick-start growth, restore the central bank’s near-empty liquid reserves, narrow a yawning fiscal deficit and tame high inflation. But they differ on the pace and depth of reform.
Scioli warns against abrupt changes to Fernandez’s leftist populism and vows to stick with her social welfare programmes.
His closest rival is Mauricio Macri, the conservative mayor of Buenos Aires, who promises to move fast to open up Latin America’s No. 3 economy but is viewed by many as beholden to the rich.
“I want Scioli to win. Macri won’t care about the people. He has no idea what it is to be poor,” said Carolina Carrizo, 28, a San Justo resident whose family has lived off benefits since her husband hurt his back two years ago.
“I like how the country is doing at the moment and I think Macri will reverse the progress.”
To win outright, Scioli needs 45% of the votes, or 40% if he has a 10 percentage point lead over his closest challenger. Polls show him hovering near the 40% threshold and Macri approaching 30%.
Scioli, a former powerboat champion who lost his right arm in a race in 1989, looked relaxed as he queued to vote with his ex-model wife.
“I hope people chose to keep building on what we have already done,” Scioli said before casting his vote into a cardboard ballot box.
The election marks the end of 12 years of “Kirchnerismo” covering the presidencies of Fernandez and her late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner. They are credited by supporters with reviving growth, protecting Argentine industry and helping the poor after a massive economic crisis in 2001-02.
A soldier stands guard near a polling station in Guatemala City.
