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Argentina Elections 2015: Mauricio Macri Defeats Kirchnerista Candidate Daniel Scioli

By Zachary Volkert
Published on: 12:08 PST, Nov 22, 2015

After 12 years of governance by the Kirchner family, Argentina’s 2015 elections have ended in a significant triumph for Cambiemos candidate Mauricio Macri. If exit polls are to be believed, Mauricio has managed to win the elections by a nearly 10 percent margin against the current governing party’s official candidate Daniel Scioli, reported local Argentine media.

The two candidates faced off in an elections that was a series of firsts for Argentina. For one, it was the first time that the two leading candidates ever faced off in a run-off election, when Mauricio came in ahead of Daniel by just few percentage points in the primary election. The 2015 election was also the first time that presidential candidates faced off in debates, the first of which was not attended by Frente para La Victoria (FpV) candidate Scioli.

Argentina presidential elections 2015
The 2015 Argentine presidential elections have been marked by a choice between the past and present, between Kirchnerismo and what will almost assuredly eventually be known as Macrismo. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Current president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will leave office beloved by many voters who sided with Daniel in the 2015 Argentine elections, but absolutely reviled by another significant portion of the population. The name of the political coalition that Macri campaigned under literally means “We change,” recalling the slogan that followed Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency in 2008.

That concept is, of course, not lost on opponents of Kirchner. Cristina’s government has been weighed by heavy criticisms from across the political spectrum — with some of her most extreme opposition even believing that she had a hand in the death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman to prevent a corruption case he had armed against her.

Argentina elections 2015 see Mauricio Macri take the win
Reigning over the 2015 Argentina presidential elections has been the choice between the policies perpetuated by current president Cristina Kirchner and the change offered by Mauricio Macri. (Photo by Alexei Danichev/Host Photo Agency via Getty Images)

While Argentina’s 2015 elections have not been especially marked by these suppositions, Mauricio has been bold in calling out government poverty and inflation statistics that are widely disputed by independent analysts. A Kirchner official famously claimed earlier this year that Argentina had fewer people living in poverty than Germany. Macri specifically called out these claims at the presidential debates that took place last weekend.

“When the president says poverty is below 5%, is she lying or is she telling the truth?”

Opponents of Mauricio in the elections have been just as revolted for what they see as his own half-truths. One of the most popularly circulated theories about what would take place with a Macri-led government is a return to the 1990s, when Carlos Menem was president of Argentina. Many blame his neoliberal policies for the tragic economic collapse of 2001; policies they say Mauricio will bring back with his 2015 election win. Still, a loss for Kirchnerismo certainly doesn’t mean that the philosophy will disappear from the fabric of Argentina’s politics at large. As 2015 election results poured in Cristina invoked the name of her husband, Néstor, who preceded her in the presidency.

“We imitate his example. He never gave up. Neither will we.”

After winning the Argentina’s 2015 presidential elections, Mauricio Macri will officially take the office next month.

[Images via Mario Tama/Getty Images]

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