​A harsh electoral defeat for the government

ARGENTINA - In Brief 15 Nov 2021 by Esteban Fernández Medrano

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With 98.5% of all polling stations scrutinized, there is no doubt that Sunday’s mid-term elections were a harsh defeat for the governing coalition, formed by traditional Peronists and Kirchnerists. In line with the September primary election, the ruling coalition “Frente de Todos” (FdT) obtained on a national level 33.5% of the total votes for deputies (compared to 32.4% in the primaries) while the opposition coalition “Juntos por el Cambio” (JxC) got 42% (compared to 41.5% in the primaries). Although in the 2017 mid-term elections JxC achieved a strong result, they managed to gain one additional seat in the Lower House, totaling now 116. FdT, on the other hand, lost two seats, totaling now 118 seats. Note that both remain below the 129 threshold to have their own quorum, but they have now a much closer power balance than before. But as we mentioned in previous reports, the more significant political defeat of the government has been in the Senate. FdT lost five senators, ending with only 35 seats, two below the 37 needed to have its own quorum. This will be the first time since the return to democracy in the early 1980s that the Peronists would not have their own quorum in the Senate. In the Province of Buenos Aires, FdT managed to close somewhat the spread seen in the primaries with JxC. The lead of the opposition went from 4.2% in the primaries to “only” 1.3%, but still, the government lost in the most significant province, despite its “Pablov-response fiscal spending”. Political analysts associate this pick-up in the province of BA with the mayors’ efforts to offer transportation to the polling stations (something they did not do in the primaries). Alberto Fernande...