RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Argentina’s current President Mauricio Macri acknowledged the defeat in the open primary elections for the presidential race held on Sunday, August 11th.
With 95.75 percent of polling stations tallied early Monday, opponent Alberto Fernández garnered 47.57 percent of the votes, while Macri received 32.17 percent. Roberto Lavagna finished third with 8.24 percent of the votes.
Fernández is Cristina Kirchner’s chosen candidate, she is vice president in his slate. On Macri’s side, the vice president is Miguel Ángel Pichetto, who used to be a Peronist, a political group in which Kirchner is also a member.
Following the results on Sunday, Macri promised to “redouble” his efforts to ensure victory in October. (Photo internet reproduction)A bad election
Macri anticipated the disclosure of results and acknowledged a poor performance. The first numbers were released over one hour later than planned. Some parties complained that the data system was “in the dark” shortly after the end of the voting period.
“We’ve had a bad election, and that obligates us to redouble our efforts so that in October we will continue with the change,” Macri said in a late-night address. “I think it is very important that dialogue continues in this country, and that we continue explaining to the world what it is that we want.”
“It hurts that we don’t have all the support we expected,” said Mauricio Macri.
A new Argentina
After confirming the results, Fernandez, the representative of the “Frente de Todos” coalition, spoke to his supporters at campaign headquarters and said he wanted to build a “new Argentina”.
“We are not going to restore a regime, we are going to build a new Argentina that will put an end to this period of lies and give the Argentines a brighter future. The concept of vengeance, partition, and everything else is over. We’ve never been fools in governing. We’re going to fix the problems that others have generated,” Fernández said.
Argentine primaries
The primaries serve as a first-round electoral poll in the country, with the general election scheduled for October 27th. This is the third time that primary elections have taken place.
Under Argentine election rules, it is likely that the presidential race will be defined in the first round of voting.
If the most voted slate obtains 45 percent of the total votes, or, alternatively, 40 percent and at least ten percentage point margin over the runner-up, it will be elected. If these thresholds are not reached, there will be a second round of voting.