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Argentine Peronists lose control of Congress | Election News

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Argentine voters have dealt a severe blow to the ruling Peronist Party in the midterm elections, according to preliminary results, as President Albert Fernandez’s center-left party is on the verge of losing a majority in Congress after nearly 40 years.

With a majority of national votes on Sunday, the Conservative opposition Juntos had strong leadership in the Senate race, a development that eliminated the majority of the main party and hindered Fernandez’s ability to carry out legislation without opposition support.

Juntos was also ahead in the races for seats in the lower house, including a major battle in the populous province of Buenos Aires, which was usually a stronghold for the Peronists.

The results are seen as a “punishment” vote against the Fernandez government, amid a spiral of inflation and growing poverty.

Teresa J of Al Jazeera said the loss of Congress by the ruling party “is something that is historic, the first time that something like this has happened since Argentina became a democracy in the 1980s.

“It’s a very tense situation for Alberto Fernandez. He has two years left and those two years will be very difficult, ”he added.

An overview of the members of the Juntos por el Cambio party as they are being held after the midterm parliamentary elections held on November 14, 2021 in Buenos Aires. [Alejandro Pagni/ AFP]

Speaking to the nation last night, Fernandez put himself on the defensive, reaching out to the aisle and demanding “patriotic” cooperation from the opposition.

In a moderate tone, the president vowed to settle the country’s debt to the International Monetary Fund, tackle the “evil” of inflation and send a long-term economic plan to Congress in early December, which investors and the IMF have sought between negotiations. A new agreement with the fund.

“At this new stage, we will deepen our efforts to reach a lasting agreement with the NDF. We need to clear up the uncertainties that come with this kind of unsustainable debt, ”Fernandez said.

“It’s been a tough two years”

Approximately 34 million Argentines were eligible to vote in Sunday’s election to elect 127 national seats nationwide, representing half of the seats in the House of Representatives, and 24 national senators from eight provinces, the equivalent of a third of the Senate.

Voting went well in the spring in the sunny skies of the Southern Hemisphere, but many voters were angry or depressed at the high levels of inflation above 50 percent and the heightened poverty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I know few people who earn enough money to make it to the end of the month,” said Ricardo Arese, a 69-year-old security guard in the capital city of Buenos Aires. His household spending has risen 300 percent since 2016, he said, and he sees little reason for optimism.

“We’re seeing two very tough years.”

“I am here to vote with the hope that everything will change. We are tired, ”said Mirta Laria, a 62-year-old housewife in Buenos Aires. “Every day we get a little worse and it’s sad that our children see nothing but a way out of their lives abroad.”

Fernandez has been notorious for COVID-19 blockades, inflation spirals, and tight currency capital controls that are suffering from record lows against the U.S. dollar. The government has tried to increase aid, and last month announced an agreement with the private sector to freeze the prices of more than 1,500 basic goods, as well as to increase the minimum wage and family allowances.

Ignacio Labaqui, an Argentine analyst at Medley Global Advisors in New York, said a significant loss would leave Fernandez “with little political power, as part of a coalition full of internal grievances and a pile of economic problems to be resolved.” from inflation ”.

Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner shakes the followers of Argentine President Alberto Fernandez during his pre-election campaign appearance in Merlon, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 11, 2021. [Matias Baglietto/ Reuters]

After the vote, Fernandez vowed to continue fighting no matter what the outcome, despite experts saying he would face a power struggle with his more radical wing of his party, allied with influential Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

“Tonight we will hear what the people have to say. Tomorrow … Argentina will continue to govern with all its might and do what we need to do to make the country prosperous, ”he said.

Since the country’s economic crisis in the early 2000s, which plunged millions of middle-class Argentines into poverty, many families have relied on social spending by Peronist governments.

One voter said he was still with the ruling party because he felt part of the “Peronist family.”

Another voter, Graciela Pacri, a 47-year-old housewife with four children, said state support was essential to surviving the tough economic times.

“If it weren’t for a grant I had, I don’t know how I would have lived because it’s hard to find a job,” he said.



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