Argentine legislative election, 2009
Encyclopedia
Legislative elections were held in Argentina
for half the seats in the Chamber of Deputies
and a third (24) of the seats in the Senate
on 28 June 2009, as well as for the legislature of the City of Buenos Aires
and other municipalities.
, moved to bring forward the date of elections to the Buenos Aires City Legislature to June 28, saying that it would increase transparency and democratic quality. Opposition figures criticised the decision, suggesting Macri was attempting to consolidate his power in the city, and building the career of his deputy, Gabriela Michetti
, expected to head the list for Macri's coalition in the election. Similar changes to the election date had been introduced in the provinces of Santa Fe
and Catamarca
(March 2009).
Despite the criticism by politicians from Government ranks that Macri had abused the process by unilaterally changing the election date, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
announced that she too would be introducing legislation to move the date of national elections forward by four months, to June 28. Despite great debate and the defections of some Peronist legislators, the proposal passed its Congressional stages quickly and the date was successfully changed. The Government claimed it would allow politicians to leave behind campaigning priorities and focus on tackling the ongoing local effect of the international financial crisis. Equally controversial was a decision by Front for Victory
leader Néstor Kirchner
(the current President's husband and predecessor) to advance stand-in candidates - prominent local lawmakers (notably Buenos Aires Province
Governor Daniel Scioli
, as well as 15 Greater Buenos Aires
-area mayors) who, after the election, would be likely to cede their new seats to down-ticket names.
The elections resulted in a setback for the governing, center-left Front for Victory and its allies, which lost their absolute majorities in both houses of Congress. Former President Néstor Kirchner stood as head of his party list in the important Buenos Aires Province
. Kirchner's list was defeated, however, by the center-right Republican Proposal
(PRO) list headed by businessman Francisco de Narváez
; the loss in Buenos Aires Province, though narrow, is significant as the province has been considered a Peronist stronghold and had helped maintain Kirchnerism
as the dominant force in Argentine politics since 2003. Buenos Aires Vice Mayor Gabriela Michetti
stood as head of the PRO list for the Lower House, and defeated four other prominent parties; the evening's surprise in Buenos Aires, however, was that of filmmaker Fernando Solanas
' left-wing Proyecto Sur
, which obtained second place.
The Kirchners' leading opposition on the center-left, the Civic Coalition
, also made significant gains – particularly in the Senate, where they gained 7 seats. The Front for Victory
had already lost 16 Lower House
members and 4 Senators
on the heels of the 2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector
over a proposed rise in export tariffs. The crisis was defused by Vice President Julio Cobos
' surprise, tie-breaking vote against them on July 16, 2008; but fallout from the controversy led to the President's distancing from Cobos (who successfully supported his own party list in his native Mendoza Province
), a sharp drop in presidential approval ratings, and the aforementioned congressional defections. One especially successful ex-Kirchnerist was Santa Fe Province
Senator Carlos Reutemann
, who after the agrarian conflict formed Santa Fe Federal. His new party narrowly bested local Socialist Party leader Rubén Giustiniani
, who would garner one of Santa Fe's three Senate seats. The Front for Victory
retained a plurality in both houses, however (they will, with two allies, be one seat short of an absolute majority in the Senate).
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
for half the seats in the Chamber of Deputies
Argentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....
and a third (24) of the seats in the Senate
Argentine Senate
The Argentine Senate is the upper house of the Argentine National Congress. It has 72 senators: three for each province and three for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires...
on 28 June 2009, as well as for the legislature of the City of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and other municipalities.
Background
The elections were due to have been held on 25 October 2009. In March 2009, the Mayor of Buenos Aires, Mauricio MacriMauricio Macri
Mauricio Macri is an Argentine businessman turned politician, and Head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Son of Francisco Macri, a businessman of Italian origin prominent in the industrial and construction sectors, he represented the City of Buenos Aires in the Lower House of...
, moved to bring forward the date of elections to the Buenos Aires City Legislature to June 28, saying that it would increase transparency and democratic quality. Opposition figures criticised the decision, suggesting Macri was attempting to consolidate his power in the city, and building the career of his deputy, Gabriela Michetti
Gabriela Michetti
Marta Gabriela Michetti is an Argentine politician. She is a member of the Commitment to Change party, part of the Republican Proposal coalition. Michetti was Deputy Head of Government in Buenos Aires during the tenure of Mayor Mauricio Macri.-Biography:Marta Michetti was born in 1965 in the...
, expected to head the list for Macri's coalition in the election. Similar changes to the election date had been introduced in the provinces of Santa Fe
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
and Catamarca
Catamarca Province
Catamarca is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province has a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km². Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are : Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, and La Rioja...
(March 2009).
Despite the criticism by politicians from Government ranks that Macri had abused the process by unilaterally changing the election date, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner , commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female president, and the second female president ever to serve...
announced that she too would be introducing legislation to move the date of national elections forward by four months, to June 28. Despite great debate and the defections of some Peronist legislators, the proposal passed its Congressional stages quickly and the date was successfully changed. The Government claimed it would allow politicians to leave behind campaigning priorities and focus on tackling the ongoing local effect of the international financial crisis. Equally controversial was a decision by Front for Victory
Front for Victory
The Front for Victory is a Peronist political party and electoral alliance in Argentina, although it is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Both the former President Néstor Kirchner and the current President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner belong to this party, located on the left-wing...
leader Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
(the current President's husband and predecessor) to advance stand-in candidates - prominent local lawmakers (notably Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
Governor Daniel Scioli
Daniel Scioli
Daniel Osvaldo Scioli was Vice President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007 and is the current Governor of Buenos Aires Province and the president of the Justicialist Party. He is a sportsman, an entrepreneur and a politician.- Family :...
, as well as 15 Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires is the generic denomination to refer to the megalopolis comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the conurbation around it, over the province of Buenos Aires—namely the adjacent 24 partidos or municipalities—which nonetheless do not constitute a single administrative...
-area mayors) who, after the election, would be likely to cede their new seats to down-ticket names.
The elections resulted in a setback for the governing, center-left Front for Victory and its allies, which lost their absolute majorities in both houses of Congress. Former President Néstor Kirchner stood as head of his party list in the important Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
. Kirchner's list was defeated, however, by the center-right Republican Proposal
Republican Proposal
Republican Proposal is a right-wing political party in Argentina. It is usually referred to as PRO. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a unitary party on 3 June 2010....
(PRO) list headed by businessman Francisco de Narváez
Francisco de Narváez
Francisco de Narváez , known as El Colorado or Pancho, is a Colombian-born naturalized Argentine businessman, politician who ran for governor of Buenos Aires Province on the PRO ballot in the 2007 elections in Argentina...
; the loss in Buenos Aires Province, though narrow, is significant as the province has been considered a Peronist stronghold and had helped maintain Kirchnerism
Kirchnerism
Kirchnerism is a term used to refer to the political philosophy and supporters of Néstor Kirchner, president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, and of his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President from 2007...
as the dominant force in Argentine politics since 2003. Buenos Aires Vice Mayor Gabriela Michetti
Gabriela Michetti
Marta Gabriela Michetti is an Argentine politician. She is a member of the Commitment to Change party, part of the Republican Proposal coalition. Michetti was Deputy Head of Government in Buenos Aires during the tenure of Mayor Mauricio Macri.-Biography:Marta Michetti was born in 1965 in the...
stood as head of the PRO list for the Lower House, and defeated four other prominent parties; the evening's surprise in Buenos Aires, however, was that of filmmaker Fernando Solanas
Fernando Solanas
Fernando Ezequiel 'Pino' Solanas is an Argentine film director, screenwriter and politician....
' left-wing Proyecto Sur
Proyecto Sur
Proyecto Sur is a political party established in 2007 in Argentina. It was founded and would be led by film maker Fernando "Pino" Solanas, who ran on the Proyecto Sur ticket for President in 2007 and for Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires in 2011....
, which obtained second place.
The Kirchners' leading opposition on the center-left, the Civic Coalition
Civic Coalition
The Civic Coalition is a political coalition in Argentina. It was founded by Elisa Carrió, as an association supported by the ARI party , as well as a number of other political groups and individual political leaders, notably Union for All of Patricia Bullrich and GEN - Generation for a National...
, also made significant gains – particularly in the Senate, where they gained 7 seats. The Front for Victory
Front for Victory
The Front for Victory is a Peronist political party and electoral alliance in Argentina, although it is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Both the former President Néstor Kirchner and the current President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner belong to this party, located on the left-wing...
had already lost 16 Lower House
Argentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....
members and 4 Senators
Argentine Senate
The Argentine Senate is the upper house of the Argentine National Congress. It has 72 senators: three for each province and three for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires...
on the heels of the 2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector
2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector
The 2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector started in March 2008, which then extended into a prolonged period of turbulent politics...
over a proposed rise in export tariffs. The crisis was defused by Vice President Julio Cobos
Julio Cobos
Julio César Cleto Cobos is an Argentine politician, currently serving as the Vice President of Argentina alongside President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. He started his political career as member of the Radical Civic Union , becoming Governor of Mendoza in 2003...
' surprise, tie-breaking vote against them on July 16, 2008; but fallout from the controversy led to the President's distancing from Cobos (who successfully supported his own party list in his native Mendoza Province
Mendoza Province
The Province of Mendoza is a province of Argentina, located in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders to the north with San Juan, the south with La Pampa and Neuquén, the east with San Luis, and to the west with the republic of Chile; the international limit is...
), a sharp drop in presidential approval ratings, and the aforementioned congressional defections. One especially successful ex-Kirchnerist was Santa Fe Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
Senator Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Alberto Reutemann , nicknamed "Lole", is an Argentine former racing driver , and later a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party....
, who after the agrarian conflict formed Santa Fe Federal. His new party narrowly bested local Socialist Party leader Rubén Giustiniani
Rubén Giustiniani
Rubén Héctor Giustiniani is an Argentine senator from Santa Fe province. An engineer by occupation, he is also president of the Socialist Party ....
, who would garner one of Santa Fe's three Senate seats. The Front for Victory
Front for Victory
The Front for Victory is a Peronist political party and electoral alliance in Argentina, although it is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Both the former President Néstor Kirchner and the current President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner belong to this party, located on the left-wing...
retained a plurality in both houses, however (they will, with two allies, be one seat short of an absolute majority in the Senate).