The presidential election has begun in Argentina. The libertarian populist Javier Milei was considered the favorite in the first round of voting on Sunday. The self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” wants to introduce the US dollar as legal tender, abolish the central bank and many ministries and radically cut social spending. The candidate from the La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances) party ran against incumbent Economy Minister Sergio Massa from the left-wing Unión por la Patria (Union for the Fatherland) and former Interior Minister Patricia Bullrich from the conservative opposition alliance Juntos por el Cambio (Together for the Fatherland). change).
South America’s second largest economy is in a deep economic crisis: the inflation rate is 138 percent, and around 40 percent of the people in the once rich country live below the poverty line. Argentina suffers from a bloated state apparatus, low industrial productivity and a large shadow economy that deprives the state of much tax revenue. The national currency, the peso, continues to lose value against the US dollar and the mountain of debt is constantly growing.
To win the election outright in the first round, a candidate must receive at least 45 percent of the vote or 40 percent of the vote and ten percentage points ahead of the runner-up. If none of the candidates can prevail in the first round, the two strongest candidates will go to the runoff election on November 19th. The future president takes office on December 10th.
