Late on Sunday evening, the polling stations in Argentina closed in the election for a large part of the seats in the country's parliament. Preliminary results are expected on Monday, which will give a hint about whether the controversial president will receive support for his continued controversial reform program.
The voter turnout seemed to be low after ten hours of voting – which suggests dissatisfaction with both Milei and the opposition.
The political libertarian Milei won the presidential election in the fall of 2023 with a promise to get a grip on a fierce inflation, cut state expenditures, and attract foreign investors.
Milei often used a chainsaw as a symbol of the drastic reforms.
Since then, the economy and the currency, the peso, have taken severe blows; many have seen their jobs disappear and promises of flourishing prosperity have faded.
One success, however, has been that inflation has decreased during his term.
Additionally, Milei's close contacts with US President Donald Trump have meant that the US has promised a support package of $40 billion to Argentina, with the catch that the package will be stopped if voters do not support Milei. Further support has been given to back up the country's weak currency.
Great disappointment
36 million voters are eligible to vote in Sunday's midterm election to parliament. A setback for Milei is considered to be able to create financial turmoil about Argentina's future, at the same time as voters expressed great disappointment over the results of his policy.
Half of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a third of the Senate seats are being elected in Sunday's election.
Thus, Milei's party LLA (La Libertad Avanza) may lose the position of power required for the president to be able to implement his policy.
Disappointed citizens are leaving the traditional parties and looking up a third party – then returning, says political analyst Luis Costa in Buenos Aires to the news agency Bloomberg.
Controversial opposition
The Peronists, who have traditionally been a controversial political force on a populist left-wing middle ground, are sensing successes with promises to, among other things, stop Milei's policy. But the leading Peronist Axel Kicillof, who is expected to stand in the presidential election in 2027, is being questioned by those who fear that the bottom will fall out of Argentina's fragile economy if the Peronists are allowed to rule again.
One of the voters, 26-year-old Lara Oses, who works with cryptocurrencies, was one of those who voted for Milei in the previous presidential election.
We were excited then, she said to the news agency Bloomberg.
But the results have not been what she expected, and she has had enough of Milei's chainsaw that has been cutting through the Argentine economy:
It has cut a lot, she says.
Argentina is the second-largest state in South America, after Brazil.
The country has over 47 million inhabitants (2024), of which around 36 million are eligible to vote.
The parliament – officially Congreso de la Nación (National Congress) – has two chambers: the Senate with 72 members from the country's 23 provinces and the capital. The Chamber of Deputies has 257 members.
The parliament is located in the capital Buenos Aires, a city with over 3 million inhabitants.
The head of state – the president – is also the head of government.
Important industries for Argentina are agriculture, mining, oil, and gas. Industrial production accounts for 25 percent of the industries' contribution to the Gross National Product (GNP).
Sources: Bloomberg, AFP, NE.
