ARGENTINA: Morning reactions to the predictable news that centre-leftist president, Cristina Fernandez, had won a landslide re-election victory and regained control of Congress

Record ID: 446676

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Morning reactions to the predictable news that centre-leftist president, Cristina Fernandez, had won a landslide re-election victory and regained control of Congress
  • Date: 25th October 2011
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF MAN HANDING OUT NEWSPAPER WITH HEADLINE: HISTORICAL TRIUMPH VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER STAND CLARIN FRONT-PAGE ANNOUNCING FERNANDEZ'S VICTORY MAN READING PAPER
  • Embargoed: 9th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina, Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABH3XS0QWU3JMLAJZW33WZC3DA
  • Story Text: Argentines woke up on Monday (October 24) to the predictable news that centre-leftist president, Cristina Fernandez, had won a landslide re-election victory and regained control of Congress.
    Fernandez celebrated with thousands of supporters on Sunday, as preliminary counts showed she had almost 54 percent of the vote with a massive lead of 37 percentage points over her nearest rival.
    No Argentine leader has won such a big share of the vote since General Juan Domingo Peron was elected for the third time with 62 percent in 1973.
    "It was just going through the motions, nothing more, but having won with 54 percent -- I think it was -- is like stealing. I'm really very happy that she won," said Maria Ofelia Rodriguez.
    Newspapers splashed the commanding numbers across their front-pages saying the victory would go down in history, and the popular support was palpable in the streets.
    Horacio Pinnaccio was among the over half of Argentines who are happy with the Fernandez administration.
    "Apparently everything is going well. There are still a lot of things that have to be fixed, but you can't do everything at once."
    The result marks a dramatic change of fortunes for a leader who some critics once said might have to leave power early as angry protests by farmers and middle-class voters battered her approval ratings soon after she took office.
    When her husband and former President Nestor Kirchner died of a heart attack a year ago, many thought it spelled the end of the couple's idiosyncratic blend of state intervention, hefty welfare spending, nationalist rhetoric and the championing of human rights.
    Instead, it prompted an outpouring of sympathy for a woman who suddenly seemed more likable and recognition of Kirchner's role in helping the country back on its feet after a sharp economic crisis in 2001/02.
    Now Maria Fornoni, an analyst for the pollster Management and Fit, said Fernandez will have more room to deepen her reforms.
    "Since beating the opposition in 2009, they've always had an attitude towards wielding power in Congress that was as if they had a majority. This is going to be the same. Of course, with the issue created allied lawmakers, it's going to be a lot easier now that the government has more than 50 percent public approval than when it had practically 20 percent approval."
    Ruling-party legislators and their allies won 131 of the lower house's 257 seats and won an additional seat in the Senate, where they effectively had a majority before.
    Despite double-digit inflation and other signs of strain as global conditions worsen, Argentina's economy is growing at about 8 percent a year and the country has regained some of its glory as the "breadbasket of the world" as grains shipments rise. Unemployment is at a 20-year low.
    A splintered opposition and voter confidence over the health of the economy helped Fernandez turn the sympathy vote over her widow status into solid electoral support.
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