Ahead of the presidential elections that will be held on October 22nd, all Argentine political parties had to undergo the PASO (Primary, Open, Simultaneous and Mandatory) electoral process that took place this Sunday, August 13th. To the surprise of many, the libertarian candidate for “La Libertad Avanza”, Javier Milei, achieved a result well above that of the other candidates for the Argentine presidency.
With 81% of the vote already counted, Milei scored 30.90%, beating the centre-right Together for Change (JxC) coalition, which garnered 28.04%, and the Union for the Homeland brand “ summarized Peronism 26.69%. These results assume that next October’s electoral appointment will be contentious between former security minister in Mauricio Macri’s government and Together for Change candidate Patricia Bullrich, economy minister in Alberto Fernández’s current government. Sergio Massa and Libertarian MP and candidate of “La Libertad Avanza”, Javier Milei.
According to official figures, two other candidates, along with Milei, Massa and Bullrich, are eligible for the October presidential election because they received more than 1.5% of the votes on their political fronts this Sunday. These are non-Kirchnerist Peronist Juan Schiaretti, governor of the central province of Córdoba, adding 4.31% support, and Myriam Bregman of the “Left Front” with 2.57%.
The Miley Phenomenon
The economist’s intervention and his vigorous anti-“political caste” speeches, first in the media scene and later in politics, mobilized an electorate that has proposed ending the state of affairs created years ago with Kirchnerism. The promise that Milei made for Argentina, and which has delighted large sections of the population, includes the complete reduction of the state’s role to its minimum, as well as the liberalization of all economic restrictions, dollarization and even the abolition of the central bank.
The results of the PASO were very surprising, especially since their result in the provincial elections fell short of expectations and because the latest polls were not as positive as the final results. This Sunday’s elections in Argentina revealed an unprecedented ideological trend due to the “milei phenomenon.” Evidence of this is that his formation, La Libertad Avanza, has managed to absorb voters from every walk of life, from those on the right who were unhappy with Macri’s gradualism… to those previously uncomfortable with identified with Kirchnerism.
“For this to be a full party, I would like to say to the third of Argentines who have decided that La Libertad Avanza is the expression that is changing Argentina that we are nearing the end of the caste model,” Milei celebrated, not alluding to only to Peronism, but also to the Together for Change project of law.