The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, said that his party’s victory in this Sunday’s legislative elections (26) shows that voters have once and for all rejected Peronist populism and support changes in the direction of the economy.
The governing coalition has more than doubled its space in Congress and is gaining strength to approve the promised reforms. The Argentine Stock Exchange rose 21.77% following the performance of Milei’s party in the legislative elections. The peso, which had reached a historic low in recent weeks, rose 4.12% this Monday.
Last Sunday, Liberdade Avança had 40.6% of the votes against 31.6% for the Peronists. The party won in most provinces — including Buenos Aires, a stronghold of the left — where the governing coalition had been defeated in local elections in September.
The campaign’s main guarantor, American President Donald Trump congratulated Milei. “It was a big win, and he had a lot of help from us. He had a lot of help. I gave him an endorsement, a very strong endorsement,” the Republican told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The American government had signed a US$20 billion bailout in swap exchange rate to save the reserves of the Argentine Central Bank, with the potential to double the amount if Milei’s party won the legislative elections.
After the victory, Milei said that Argentines showed that they do not want to return to a failed model of inflation and a useless state: “Argentines said: ‘Enough with populism, populism never again’.”
In the Chamber, Liberdade Avança went from 37 to 80 seats. The number of the coalition expands to 104 with the allies of the PRO (Republican Proposal) of the former president of the Argentine Right, Maurício Macri, totaling more than a third of the total. It is enough to maintain the Casa Rosada’s vetoes and also to avoid legislative vetoes on presidential decrees.
In the Senate, the government leaders tripled the seats. Even so, the opposition is still the majority, with 28 seats. The Argentine president asked the moderate opposition to support the reforms. With the new Congress, experts see a president more open to dialogue and an easier path to implementing his government agenda, which includes new social security, labor and tax models.
“We saw a changed Milei, a Milei who took off his leather jacket and put on a suit, practically like when Menem (Carlos Menem, former president of Argentina) cut his sideburns and there was a strong change in the aesthetic aspect, but also a great change in speech. We saw a president who was euphoric, but also respectful of differences,” says political analyst, Shila Vilker.
*With information from Reuters
