Argentina held its presidential elections this Sunday to elect a new head of government in what promised to be a historic day.. More than 35 million Argentines were called to the polls in the most uncertain elections in recent years, in which the polls pointed to a victory for Javier Milei, the controversial ultra-liberal candidate of La Libertad Avanza, which would have meant a change of government in Argentina.

However, the Peronist candidate of Unión Por la Patria and current Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, gave the surprise by winning 36.6% of the votes compared to 30% for Milei and 23.8% of the votes for the conservative Republican Proposal candidate, Patricia Bullrich.

The percentages, however, are not enough for Sergio Massa to reach the Casa Rosada, and as established by Argentine electoral law, if no candidate obtains 45% of the votes or 40% with a 10-point advantage over the Second, a second round will be held between the two candidates with the most votes, according to CNN.

The turnout in the elections, at 77.67%, has been the second worst turnout figure for Argentines at the polls since the end of the dictatorship in 1983 and the return of democracy.

Massa and Milei will compete in the second round

In the second round, therefore, it will be decided who will be the new president of Argentina. This process, called “ballotaje”, will be held on November 19, and will measure which of the two candidates obtains greater support: whether the left-wing Peronist option of Sergio Massa continues in the Government or, on the contrary, the ultra-liberal candidacy of Javier Milei becomes president.

In his statement after this first electoral victory, Massa thanked his voters, recognized that “the country is experiencing a complex situation” and asked for their trust to form a unity government and “build a new stage for Argentine political history.” after the second round.

For his part, Milei has highlighted the value of contesting a second round “against Kirchnerism”. “In two years we came to challenge the most disastrous thing in the history of modern democracy for power,” said the ultra-conservative candidate, who asked for a vote in the second round for a change in the politics of the Latin American country: “We cannot allow that Kirchnerism continues destroying our lives. “Either we change or we sink.”

These elections are held in the context of a serious economic crisis in Argentina, the third largest economy in Latin America, which suffers inflation of 138% annually, with the peso devalued and 40% of the population living below the poverty line. poverty.