President Javier Milei vowed Sunday to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in elections in Buenos Aires Province.
The regional vote carries significant weight and comes ahead of highly anticipated midterms on October 26.
The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023.
He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the centre-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires Province, the country’s economic powerhouse.
A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct” but said he would not be swayed “one millimetre” from his reform agenda.
“Not only will we continue on the same course, but we will deepen and accelerate it,” he said at a muted election night event in the resort of La Plata, where he took the stage in silence, in marked contrast to his usual dramatic entrance to rock music.
Most of his officials left the headquarters as soon as the President finished speaking, without making any statements to the press.
With 91 percent of the votes counted, the centre-left Fuerza Patria coalition had taken over 47 percent of the vote against nearly 34 percent for Milei’s ruling La Libertad Avanza, official results showed.
The 13-point gap between Milei’s party and the left was far greater than opinion polls had predicted.
Turnout in the election was high, at around 63 percent.
Elections in Buenos Aires Province are telling as a bellwether for Argentina. The region contributes more than 30 percent of Argentina’s GDP and accounts for 40 percent of all eligible voters. The election renewed 23 Senate seats and 46 banks in the provincial legislature.
The result poses major concerns for Milei, coming just six weeks before midterm elections.
Some members of his party downplayed the extent of the defeat, pointing out that La Libertad Avanza had nonetheless increased its share of legislators in Buenos Aires Province.
Peronist party
The atmosphere, however, was more festive at the headquarters of Fuerza Patria. Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof was greeted with cheers and chants of “Axel for president!”
“Milei, the people have given you an order: you cannot govern for outsiders, for corporations, for those who have the most. Govern for the people,” Kicillof said in a victory speech.
“You cannot defund health, education, science and culture in Argentina,” he continued, referring to the steep spending cuts introduced by Milei since taking office.
Meanwhile, dozens of people gathered in front of the apartment in Buenos Aires where former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is serving a corruption sentence under house arrest.
She appeared on the balcony to celebrate and greet the crowd as the results were announced.
The result “at least gives us hope that things will improve because the truth is that we are in a bad way, a very bad way,” said Luciana Merialdo, a supporter of the ex-president, at the scene.
‘We must learn from this ‘
The government went into the election under a cloud following a corruption scandal at the ANDIS national disability agency involving the president’s sister and right-hand woman, Karina Milei.
In a sign of the anger among many Argentines over the affair, Milei and his sister were pelted with stones on the campaign trail in late August, with skirmishes breaking out among supporters and opponents.
Karina Milei, who has not defended herself publicly, voted at around noon and left surrounded by supporters, without making any statements to the press.
The ruling party’s election drubbing comes three days after Milei suffered a major setback when Congress overturned his veto of a law increasing allowances for disabled people.
On the economic front, the self-described “anarcho-capitalist” is struggling also, despite success in fighting inflation and in erasing a fiscal deficit.
Last week, his government began selling treasury dollars to stem the depreciation of the currency, the peso, which had been accelerating in recent weeks despite high interest rates.
“We must learn from this” [election defeat], La Libertad Avazna candidate Diego Valenzuela told AFP, claiming that the result “was due to not engaging in economic populism, which is new in Argentina.”
His remarks were aimed at the Peronists, accused by Milei of leading South America’s second-biggest economy to ruin through excessive spending and protectionism.
Milei’s party absorbed former president Mauricio Macri’s (2015-19) PRO party for the elections, while Peronism secured hard-fought unity despite multiple internal rifts.
by Tomás Viola, AFP
