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The Star
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Argentina markets bask in Milei's local election win glow
Argentina's President Javier Milei and his sister Karina Milei embrace onstage at the La Libertad Avanza party headquarters on the day of the legislative elections of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Tomas Cuesta BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentina's markets enjoyed the glow on Monday of a mood-boosting local election win by the party of investor-friendly libertarian President Javier Milei, which analysts said put him in good stead ahead of more important ballots later this year. Milei's party won the most votes in legislative elections in wealthy capital Buenos Aires, beating pollsters' forecasts. The win gives Milei just a few more seats in the city's legislature, but is symbolic of his rising fortunes. "The bulk of the support was all to do with Milei," said Buenos Aires-based political consultant Shila Vilker with Trespuntozero, adding it was a "resounding win" for Milei's brash brand of austerity and deregulation. "It's a confirmation of the course they're on." While Milei is divisive, he has kept voters on his side by bringing down what was triple-digit inflation via tough spending cuts and reducing monetary emissions, moves that have won him plaudits from investors and the International Monetary Fund. The latest vote suggests his political footing remains firm, which markets have cheered - even if the real-life impact of the vote is limited, with his party still holding a minority in the city's legislature after the victory. On Monday, bonds edged up around half a percent, while the S&P Merval stock index was up nearly 2%. "Milei's list wasn't expected to come first, and that has two implications," said Graham Stock, emerging markets strategist at RBC Global Asset Management, adding it gave Milei leverage with his more moderate conservative allies. "It suggests that they're going to do better than expected in the midterms in October, but even before that, it creates more momentum behind a deal (with center-right party PRO)." Argentina will renew half of the seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies and a third of those in the Senate in the midterm vote. Milei, an economist and acid-tongued former pundit, came to office in December 2023 after a shock election win. The country still faces a major challenge to build up depleted foreign currency reserves, which it needs to hit targets under a new $20 billion IMF deal, while the recent lifting of capital controls has made the peso more volatile. And not everyone was convinced that it was a win for Milei, with voters split - and many not turning up at all. "My interpretation is that no political party won," said Buenos Aires lawyer Juan Pablo Mares, citing one of the lowest-ever voter turnouts with many people apathetic and struggling under still-high inflation and cuts to public services. "If the political leaders don't look at that, read it, and learn from it, they will continue to be divorced from the reality we all face." (Reporting by Walter Bianchi and Juan Bustamante; Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
Straits Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Argentina markets bask in Milei's local election win glow
Argentina's President Javier Milei speaks to the media as General Secretary of the Presidency and sister of the president, Karina Milei looks on on the day they vote in the legislative elections of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Tomas Cuesta Argentina's President Javier Milei and his sister Karina Milei embrace onstage at the La Libertad Avanza party headquarters on the day of the legislative elections of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Tomas Cuesta Argentina's President Javier Milei speaks to the media as General Secretary of the Presidency and sister of the president, Karina Milei looks on on the day they vote in the legislative elections of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Tomas Cuesta Argentina's President Javier Milei and his sister Karina Milei embrace onstage at the La Libertad Avanza party headquarters on the day of the legislative elections of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Tomas Cuesta BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's markets enjoyed the glow on Monday of a mood-boosting local election win by the party of investor-friendly libertarian President Javier Milei, which analysts said put him in good stead ahead of more important ballots later this year. Milei's party won the most votes in legislative elections in wealthy capital Buenos Aires, beating pollsters' forecasts. The win gives Milei just a few more seats in the city's legislature, but is symbolic of his rising fortunes. "The bulk of the support was all to do with Milei," said Buenos Aires-based political consultant Shila Vilker with Trespuntozero, adding it was a "resounding win" for Milei's brash brand of austerity and deregulation. "It's a confirmation of the course they're on." While Milei is divisive, he has kept voters on his side by bringing down what was triple-digit inflation via tough spending cuts and reducing monetary emissions, moves that have won him plaudits from investors and the International Monetary Fund. The latest vote suggests his political footing remains firm, which markets have cheered - even if the real-life impact of the vote is limited, with his party still holding a minority in the city's legislature after the victory. On Monday, bonds edged up around half a percent, while the S&P Merval stock index was up nearly 2%. "Milei's list wasn't expected to come first, and that has two implications," said Graham Stock, emerging markets strategist at RBC Global Asset Management, adding it gave Milei leverage with his more moderate conservative allies. "It suggests that they're going to do better than expected in the midterms in October, but even before that, it creates more momentum behind a deal (with center-right party PRO)." Argentina will renew half of the seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies and a third of those in the Senate in the midterm vote. Milei, an economist and acid-tongued former pundit, came to office in December 2023 after a shock election win. The country still faces a major challenge to build up depleted foreign currency reserves, which it needs to hit targets under a new $20 billion IMF deal, while the recent lifting of capital controls has made the peso more volatile. And not everyone was convinced that it was a win for Milei, with voters split - and many not turning up at all. "My interpretation is that no political party won," said Buenos Aires lawyer Juan Pablo Mares, citing one of the lowest-ever voter turnouts with many people apathetic and struggling under still-high inflation and cuts to public services. "If the political leaders don't look at that, read it, and learn from it, they will continue to be divorced from the reality we all face." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
New Indian Express
19-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
In win for far-right President Milei, Argentines deal blow to centrists in local elections
BUENOS AIRES: What was once one the bastion of the center-right in Argentina fell on Sunday to the radical libertarian party of President Javier Milei, a dramatic result that could help the leader's chances in crucial midterm elections later this year as voters across the country's capital abandoned the main conservative party. Milei's top candidate and official spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, swept to victory in the Buenos Aires elections, securing over 30% of the ballots and crushing the center-right party of former President Mauricio Macri in its stronghold. Milei's La Libertad Avanza party, or LLA, said it racked up twice as many votes Sunday as it did in the last local election, in 2023. As a brassy Argentine rock anthem blared at the post-election rally, Milei burst onto the stage, bouncing and pumping his arms to whip up the crowd. 'Today is a pivotal day for the ideas of freedom,' he bellowed, reveling in the cheers of supporters. The upset marked a bruising defeat for Macri's PRO (Republican Proposal) party, which has governed Buenos Aires uninterrupted for the past 18 years. The PRO candidate, Silvia Lospennato, came in third with 15.9% of the vote. 'The results are not as expected,' he acknowledged. 'We have a lot of work ahead of us," Lospennato added. Argentina's left-leaning populist Peronist party, which has governed the country for much of the past two decades, came second, scraping over 27% in a city where they normally fall short, a sign of how the splintered right-wing has benefited the opposition. 'The Peronist party is far from dead with this result,' said Juan Cruz Díaz, a political analyst who runs the Cefeidas Group, a consultancy in Buenos Aires. But the main takeaway from Sunday's vote, he said, 'is the fight for dominance in the center-right and the strong victory over the PRO party.'
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Argentina votes in local elections that will test President Milei's support
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Votes were being cast across Buenos Aires on Sunday in local elections that will test Argentina's President Javier Milei's political strength as he seeks to steer mainstream conservatives toward his radical libertarian platform. The election results could boost Milei's La Libertad Avanza party, or LLA, in crucial national midterms later this year. Some 2.5 million people are eligible to vote in Sunday's election, in which half of the 60 legislative seats are up for grabs. A former TV pundit known for his angry rants against Argentina's political class, Milei founded LLA just four years ago, drawing a motley crew of political novices into his anti-establishment agenda. Seeking to take a 'chainsaw' to state spending with just a tiny minority in Congress over his past 1 1/2-year in office — his party holds just 15% of seats in the lower house and 10% in the Senate — Milei has been compelled to compromise with former President Mauricio Macri, the scion of a wealthy family and the face of Argentina's conservative political establishment. That uneasy alliance has faltered in recent months. The two have clashed over Milei's effort to install a judge embroiled in corruption scandals on the Supreme Court, among other things. In Macri's stronghold of Buenos Aires, where his PRO (Republican Proposal) party has governed uninterrupted since 2007, Milei appears set on crushing his erstwhile partner altogether, analysts say. 'The government needs to claim dominance and the leadership over the whole spectrum of the center-right,' said Juan Cruz Díaz, managing director of Buenos Aires-based political consultancy Cefeidas Group. At his closing campaign rally last week, Milei attacked Macri's party in an expletive-sprinkled rant. 'I'm not going to waste time describing all the inconsistencies of the failed (PRO) party because they're fighting for fourth place,' he told supporters. Wiping out PRO in Buenos Aires would signal a major shift in Argentine politics — one already playing out in the United States, Europe and around the world as increasingly right-wing factions push their way into the mainstream and drown out more moderate voices. It would also cement Milei's party as the main alternative to the country's left-wing populist Peronist faction, which has governed economically troubled Argentina for much of the past two decades. 'If Milei wins in the capital, it will have a very strong symbolic impact,' said Orlando D'Adamo, director of the Center for Public Opinion at Buenos Aires' University of Belgrano. 'If PRO wins, it would maintain Macri's power as a valuable partner, boost his brand and put him on equal footing with La Libertad Avanza.' Milei has chosen a prominent figure — his spokesperson Manuel Adorni — to head his list of candidates. He put his sister and closest advisor, Karina Milei, on the job as a campaign strategist. Huge banners declaring 'Adorni is Milei' blanket the city. 'It has turned into a crucial battle for the political leadership,' said Ignacio Labaqui, a senior analyst at research group Medley Global Advisors. Macri, for his part, has campaigned hard for his top candidate, Silvia Lospennato. In recent appearances, he has criticized Milei for what he sees as a bellicose approach and disregard for traditional Argentine institutions. 'Putting the economy in order is not enough. We must strengthen institutions, be predictable and regain respect for one another,' Macri told supporters. Just two years ago, Macri was key to Milei's landslide electoral victory. His center-right supplied Milei's new government with key ministers, brought him a conservative base and helped him secure the support of critical political brokers to help pass his radical agenda through an otherwise hostile Congress. ___ Associated Press writer Debora Rey in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.
18-05-2025
- Politics
Argentina votes in local elections that will test President Milei's support
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Votes were being cast across Buenos Aires on Sunday in local elections that will test Argentina's President Javier Milei's political strength as he seeks to steer mainstream conservatives toward his radical libertarian platform. The election results could boost Milei's La Libertad Avanza party, or LLA, in crucial national midterms later this year. Some 2.5 million people are eligible to vote in Sunday's election, in which half of the 60 legislative seats are up for grabs. A former TV pundit known for his angry rants against Argentina's political class, Milei founded LLA just four years ago, drawing a motley crew of political novices into his anti-establishment agenda. Seeking to take a 'chainsaw' to state spending with just a tiny minority in Congress over his past 1 1/2-year in office — his party holds just 15% of seats in the lower house and 10% in the Senate — Milei has been compelled to compromise with former President Mauricio Macri, the scion of a wealthy family and the face of Argentina's conservative political establishment. That uneasy alliance has faltered in recent months. The two have clashed over Milei's effort to install a judge embroiled in corruption scandals on the Supreme Court, among other things. In Macri's stronghold of Buenos Aires, where his PRO (Republican Proposal) party has governed uninterrupted since 2007, Milei appears set on crushing his erstwhile partner altogether, analysts say. 'The government needs to claim dominance and the leadership over the whole spectrum of the center-right,' said Juan Cruz Díaz, managing director of Buenos Aires-based political consultancy Cefeidas Group. At his closing campaign rally last week, Milei attacked Macri's party in an expletive-sprinkled rant. 'I'm not going to waste time describing all the inconsistencies of the failed (PRO) party because they're fighting for fourth place,' he told supporters. Wiping out PRO in Buenos Aires would signal a major shift in Argentine politics — one already playing out in the United States, Europe and around the world as increasingly right-wing factions push their way into the mainstream and drown out more moderate voices. It would also cement Milei's party as the main alternative to the country's left-wing populist Peronist faction, which has governed economically troubled Argentina for much of the past two decades. 'If Milei wins in the capital, it will have a very strong symbolic impact,' said Orlando D'Adamo, director of the Center for Public Opinion at Buenos Aires' University of Belgrano. 'If PRO wins, it would maintain Macri's power as a valuable partner, boost his brand and put him on equal footing with La Libertad Avanza.' Milei has chosen a prominent figure — his spokesperson Manuel Adorni — to head his list of candidates. He put his sister and closest advisor, Karina Milei, on the job as a campaign strategist. Huge banners declaring 'Adorni is Milei' blanket the city. 'It has turned into a crucial battle for the political leadership,' said Ignacio Labaqui, a senior analyst at research group Medley Global Advisors. Macri, for his part, has campaigned hard for his top candidate, Silvia Lospennato. In recent appearances, he has criticized Milei for what he sees as a bellicose approach and disregard for traditional Argentine institutions. 'Putting the economy in order is not enough. We must strengthen institutions, be predictable and regain respect for one another,' Macri told supporters. new government with key ministers, brought him a conservative base and helped him secure the support of critical political brokers to help pass his radical agenda through an otherwise hostile Congress.
