Polls Open in Argentina’s Presidential Election

Polling stations opened and Argentines began voting for their next president today, in an election that will bring an end to 12 years under power couple Nestor and Cristina Kirchner.

Scioli, from her Peronist party, PJ, leads with 42 percent of the votes in the latest polls. In this election the two leading candidates are Daniel Scioli of the outgoing president’s Justicialist party, a group that has factions from both left and right, and Mauricio Macri of the centre right Republican Proposal.

Earlier this year, Argentina was rocked by the death of special prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found shot in his apartment on January 18, 2015.

The Argentine leader anticipated that “who will win the elections will continue strengthening this integration, because he is convinced there is a different world, with new partners as important as the rest when (ties) are transformed into concrete investments”, in direct reference to the ruling Victory Front (FpV) presidential candidate, Daniel Scioli. While he is unlikely to win, it is unclear who Massa’s 20 percent of the vote will go to in case of a second round. While Kirchner can’t run for a third consecutive term, she could legally run again in 2019. She has thrived on conflict, needling the West, and singling out enemies at home, be it capitalists, farmers or political opponents.

Rival Macri has pledged to boost the country’s economy, which is stagnant, with the global Monetary Fund predicting a 0.7 percent contraction next year.

Argentina has also become an economic pariah state among Western institutions.

Argentina, Latin America’s largest economy after Brazil and Mexico, is also still waging a messy legal battle against two American hedge funds that reject its plans to restructure the $100 billion in debt it defaulted on in 2001.

“It’s going to be a complex count”, said Ricardo Rouvier, a pollster. Fernandez sharply increased spending on social welfare programs, which range from work training to stipends for single mothers.

Like Mr Scioli, Mr Macri is married to a former model. The 62-year-old leaves the office with an approval rating of over 50 percent predominantly among the rural and poorer parts of the population and has allies in nearly all key positions.