“It is a day in which democracy shines. We hope that all Argentines will vote, that they express themselves. I understand sometimes the frustration we have with the situation we are in, but the way out is by voting,” said Rodríguez Larreta after vote.
The relevance of the primaries, however, exceeds this bid, since the postulant of the center-left ruling party, the Minister of Economy Sergio Massa, will be expecting the number of votes he achieves to find out the real chances that the Peronist alliance Unión por la Patria He has to hold the presidency.
“Today is a first step, each political force is going to define the candidates as excellent. We obviously have a good expectation and a good perspective for today,” Massa said after voting early in the morning.
“I think it’s important that people participate and that we have the opportunity throughout the country to hear what people are saying to us at the ballot box,” he added.
The elections began at 08:00 local time and will close at 18:00, with the first results scheduled for 21:00.
The disenchantment with classical politics triggered by an annual inflation of 116% and poverty close to 40% improved the chances of the ultra-liberal Javier Milei, whose concrete potential will be known in these elections known locally as PASO.
“Higher abstention should be expected, perhaps also more blank votes. We are having a warning in this regard in the provincial elections held up to now,” political analyst Carlos Fara told Reuters.
“The most difficult element to measure is Milei’s performance, because it is a phenomenon that does not come from politics,” he added.
The future president will find himself with a bleak financial panorama: the shortage of foreign currency has left the arcades of the central bank empty and the country has maintained a debt of 44,000 million dollars with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for years.
“I’m thinking of voting blank or for a party that doesn’t add up votes. No candidate fully convinces me,” said Micaela Panzera, a 22-year-old employee of a food company.
According to most of the polls, the electoral competition would end up being defined in a ballot in November, since no applicant seems to drag enough votes to achieve the presidency in the first round of October.
“It’s another opportunity we have to put the situation back on track, inflation kills us and job uncertainty doesn’t let you project your life,” said Adriana Alonso, a 42-year-old housewife, after voting on 25 de Mayo, a city in the province of Buenos Aires.
on sunday too governor will be elected in the southern province of Santa Cruzgoverned since 2015 by Alicia Kirchner, sister-in-law of the powerful former president Cristina Kirchner.