How Argentine voters have shown support for change
How Argentine voters have shown support for change
Monday, August 17, 2015
By Federico Fuentes
In an election where almost every presidential hopeful sought to stake their claim as the candidate for change, it was the incumbent Kirchnerista forces — for the first time headed by neither late former president Nestor Kirchner nor sitting President Cristina Kirchner — that came out in front.
Argentine voters went to the polls on August 9 to cast a ballot in the presidential primaries — a legally required first step towards running in the upcoming presidential elections in October.
The primaries — first implemented in 2011 — have a dual feature: they allow voters to vote for the pre-candidate they want their party to stand in the election and filter out parties who fail to obtain 1.5% of the vote by barring them from the presidential race.
Eleven parties and coalitions put forward 15 presidential pre-candidates. Three were seen as the main contenders: Mauricio Macri, who won 24% running for the Let’s Change Alliance; Sergio Massa, a traditional right-wing Peronist who won 14% on the slogan “A more just change”; and Daniel Scioli, backed by Cristina Kirchner and the Front for Victory Alliance (FPV), who won with 38% of the vote.
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https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/59801