by Ella Feldman
November 16, 2023
Introduction:
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/days-be ... d-neck/BUENOS AIRES (Courthouse News) — As Argentina readies to elect its next leader in the decisive final round of voting Sunday, polls show the race for the presidential Casa Rosada is neck and neck.
With skyrocketing inflation and a looming recession weighing heavily on their shoulders, voters will choose between two remaining candidates: Economy Minister Sergio Massa, the ruling center-left party’s candidate, and Javier Milei, a libertarian outsider who wants to dollarize Argentina’s economy.
The primary consensus from public opinion polls is that the election will be competitive, though in recent days Milei has pulled slightly ahead of Massa.
“The biggest question mark is the portion of the electorate that will cast a blank ballot — in other words, people who don’t like either candidate,” said Ezequiel González Ocantos, a political science professor at the University of Oxford. “How big is that portion of the electorate? I think that will, in many ways, hold the keys to the result.”
Milei, an economist who made a name for himself by bringing his eccentric demeanor and radical proposals to Argentine television programs, emerged as the race’s frontrunner in a shocking August primary upset. But after over two months of campaigning, it was Massa who took home the most votes in the first round of voting last month. That marked the first time since primaries were established over a decade ago that the party that won the primary did not hold onto its lead in the general election’s first round.
