[Politics] Elections in Argentina: a campaign that empowers Milei and Massa

[FNX Magokiler]

Milei and Bullrich, the far-right and right-wing candidates respectively, maintained an excellent relationship until the primaries on August 13. They have frequently agreed on various issues, such as the defense of the free market, the disapproval of state regulations, the need for tougher policies to combat crime or putting a stop to protests in the streets, and they have even invited each other to be part of the same space.

Starting from a three-thirds election where we witnessed a technical tie in the last national primaries, between the libertarian force La Libertad Avanza (LLA), with 29.86% of the votes; Together for Change (JxC), with 28 %, and the ruling Union for the Homeland (UP) with 27.28%, a series of questions arose: why the result? Why are the polls failing again? Why did La Libertad Avanza de Milei, from third force, climb to first? Why did Kirchnerism reach a technical tie, when its candidate is the minister of a quasi-hyperinflationary economy? Or why did Together for Change, which has been the organized opposition, obtained much less support than expected in the elections in Argentina?

Milei and Bullrich, the far-right and right-wing candidates respectively, maintained an excellent relationship until the primaries on August 13. They have frequently agreed on various issues, such as the defense of the free market, the disapproval of state regulations, the need for tougher policies to combat crime or putting a stop to protests in the streets, and they have even invited each other to be part of the same space.

But after the primary elections, it was revealed, surprisingly, that Milei, who individually obtained 29.86% of support, compared to Bullrich.

 

 

Who obtained 16.81%, and Massa, with 21.43%, has a high chance of reaching be the future president. From then on, Milei began to distance herself from Patricia Bullrich and delegitimize her as the leader of the organized opposition since 2015.

Milei, who expresses himself mostly through social networks, has stated with the violence that characterizes him that Patricia Bullrich is “a buncher, throws bombs and a Peronist”, appealing to the past of the JxC leader, who was a member of Peronism and was guerrilla in his youth. Milei also points out Bullrich as “caste”, assimilating her to the rest of the politicians and especially to Kirchnerism. But although she disqualifies her, she does not seem to confront her but, on the contrary, seems to want to downplay her importance to position herself as the true opposition to Kirchnerism.

The strategies of the three candidates for October 22

Although the internal elections made it clear that the extremists triumphed (the reactionary Javier Milei of LLA was the one who obtained the most votes; the hard one of JxC, Patricia Bullrich, beat the soft one of Rodríguez Larreta; Sergio Massa, ultra Kirchnerist version of UP , achieved a high performance), following the electoral logic of all times, we could assume that centripetal forces will operate in a general contest. In this framework, Together for Change, from the most sensible moderation after primary elections, could attract voters from both extremes and increase their chances of winning.

 

https://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/opinion/columnas/2023/10/08/elecciones-en-argentina-una-campana-que-empodera-a-milei-y-a-massa/