Argentina’s President Javier Milei suffered a major blow in a key Buenos Aires provincial election on Sunday. Milei’s recently formed party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) only captured 34% of the vote in Argentina’s largest province. The leader acknowledged it was a “clear defeat”. The election was seen as a referendum on how well his libertarian party will perform in legislative elections next month. LLA lost by a landslide to the Peronist center-left opposition candidate Axel Kicillof. With 82% of the votes counted, Kicillof won 47% of the vote across the province.
Milei acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” and admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct.”
He said: “If anyone wants to begin rebuilding and moving forward, the first thing they must do is accept the results.
“The course will not change, it will be redoubled,” added the president, speaking from the provincial headquarters of his LLA coalition.
Since assuming power in December 2023, the 54-year-old leader has launched an aggressive push to roll back regulations, implementing deep cuts to government spending and laying off tens of thousands of public sector workers. The news come as a wake up call for Milei, who has been facing criticism over a bribery scandal and slushing of public spending. The Peronists are now the strongest bloc in Argentina’s congress and have passed social spending measures that are blocking Milei’s radical libertarian vision for Argentina’s economy in crisis.
The election comes following a corruption controversy at the National Disability Agency, in which the president’s sister and close confidante, Karina Milei, was involved. After the revelations surfaced, public anger boiled over in late August, when demonstrators hurled stones at both Milei and his sister during a campaign stop on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
LLA’s defeat may signal a broader shift in Argentina’s politics. The local election was especially high-stakes given that the province generates over 30% of the nation’s GDP and represents 40% of its electorate. Argentina’s economy is shrinking, confidence is waning, joblessness is climbing and interest rates have hit record highs, as the government props up the peso in a bid to curb inflation and appease voters. Milei has yet to build up the foreign reserves needed to convince global markets he can turn Argentina into a country able to meet its debts.
Ana Iparraguirre, an Argentinian political analyst, told The Washington Post that while Milei has a strong ideology about minimal state impact, his vision hasn’t materialised yet. The Peronist movement has failed to articulate a clear vision beyond opposing Milei, yet as disillusionment with him grows, voters are left with few alternatives, the analyst added.
