Conservative opposition looks set to force runoff in Argentine presidential

Argentina’s Sunday election ended with margins so thin that the top two candidates will head to a special November 22 runoff.

Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli led Argentina’s presidential election race as counting got under way Sunday, October 25, but it was unclear whether he would avoid a runoff against his conservative rival.

There may be a spoiler in the form of Sergio Massa, a former Kirchner ally who fell out with the president and launched a rival party, the Renewal Front, two years ago.

Scioli entered Sunday s first-round vote with a comfortable lead in the opinion polls, but in a blow to outgoing President Cristina Kirchner, he emerged just barely ahead of Macri – 36.9 percent to 34.3 percent, with almost all polling stations reporting.

Scioli, a 56-year-old former powerboat racer who lost his right arm while competing in 1989, has already started to rally the support of Massa voters. His opponent, Daniel Scioli was at 35 percent.

“I invite undecided and independent (voters) to join me in this great celebration of Argentine development”, he said.

Macri stressed that voters had opted for change.

The lead opposition candidate is Mauricio Macri, the Buenos Aires mayor who has presented himself as the candidate to put Argentina’s economy in order, promising to make a deal with the US creditors that Fernandez blasts as “vultures” and lift unpopular currency restrictions.

“The trust that has been placed on me not only moved me but fills me with responsibility”, he said. More than 32 million Argentines were eligible to cast their ballots. Voting is compulsory in Argentina for adults below the age of 70.

The first wave of official results were not expected until late Sunday, about five hours after polls closed.

The closer the results are to the threshold, the higher the chances are of accusations of fraud or a protracted recount.

The election marks the end of the Kirchner era.

Speaking on behalf of Macri’s camp, the secretary general of the Buenos Aires city government, Marcos Pena, said he expected a second round against Scioli. He said the country had the opportunity to decide whether everything would go on as before or whether change would come.

Continuity of the administration of Kirchner, constitutionally barred from running after eight years in office, has been the main thrust of Scioli’s campaign, although he attempted to break from her divisive political style. She may seek the presidency again in 2019.

What the electorate may have grasped is that for all Scioli’s boosting of the expanded social safety net Fernandez has built, the Argentine economy is creaking, undermined by a widening fiscal deficit, shrinking worldwide reserves and inflation that’s in double figures even according to the government’s own unreliable data.