Argentine govt loses ground in primary vote
13 Aug 2013 10:18 PM GMT
President Cristina Fernandez failed the first electoral test of her second term on Sunday as her party's candidates trailed opponents across Argentina's most populous provinces in congressional primaries.
If the voting pattern repeated in October's elections, she could lose control of congress during the final two years of her rule.
The governing party remains the only political force in Argentina with a nationwide organization, but her opponents are coming up strong, especially in the all-important province of Buenos Aires.
With 52 per cent of the vote counted in the suburbs around Argentina's capital, Sergio Massa's Renewal Front was leading the president's hand-picked candidate, Martin Insaurralde, by 34 percent to 29 per cent.
The governing Front for Victory party got the most votes in six of seven provinces with senate races, but its slates for the house of deputies led in only eight of Argentina's 23 provinces and trailed in all of the most populous provinces as well as the city of Buenos Aires.
Massa, who broke from Fernandez only 40 days before the primaries, sounded more like a presidential candidate than a campaigner for congress in his victory speech.
If the voting pattern repeated in October's elections, she could lose control of congress during the final two years of her rule.
The governing party remains the only political force in Argentina with a nationwide organization, but her opponents are coming up strong, especially in the all-important province of Buenos Aires.
With 52 per cent of the vote counted in the suburbs around Argentina's capital, Sergio Massa's Renewal Front was leading the president's hand-picked candidate, Martin Insaurralde, by 34 percent to 29 per cent.
The governing Front for Victory party got the most votes in six of seven provinces with senate races, but its slates for the house of deputies led in only eight of Argentina's 23 provinces and trailed in all of the most populous provinces as well as the city of Buenos Aires.
Massa, who broke from Fernandez only 40 days before the primaries, sounded more like a presidential candidate than a campaigner for congress in his victory speech.
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