• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Latin America

Left-leaning Scioli Poised to Win Argentine Presidential Runoff

  • Left-leaning ruling party candidate Daniel Scioli is to be Argentina's next president, according to polls.

    Left-leaning ruling party candidate Daniel Scioli is to be Argentina's next president, according to polls. | Photo: Reuters

Published 16 October 2015
Opinion

A consulting firm said a poll revealed that in case of a runoff, the socialist candidate would win the election with 51.5 percent of the votes.

Argentine left-leaning presidential candidate Daniel Scioli, of the ruling Front for Victory (FpV), will win the second round of elections if the Oct. 25 ballot goes to a runoff, according to consulting firm Dicen.

RELATED: Analysis: Argentina’s Candidates and the Elections

Various polls place Scioli ahead of the race. According to a survey published in La Jornada, the ruling party presidential hopeful has a 10 percent lead over his closest rival, right-wing Republican Proposal (PRO) party hopeful Mauricio Macri, with 38.4 percent of the vote.

The news website Eldestape published another survey showing Scioli almost 15 percentage points ahead of Macri, although ultimately the presidential elections of Oct. 25 will head for a runoff between the two leading candidates.

According to Eldestape, Scioli leads the voter preference with 40.9 percent over Macri's 25.8 percent.

Source: eldestapeweb.com

But with about 10 days to go before election day, voter preference could shift, changing the outlook significantly.

Sergio Massa, who has seen voter preference in his favor grow substantially, stands 2.5 percent behind Macri, with about 23.3 percent of the voters preference.

To win in the first round, a candidate either needs to garner at least 45 percent of the votes, or at least 40 percent with a margin of at least 10 percent over their closest rival.

RELATED: Latin America’s Left Today with Chantal Mouffe

The Dicen survey places the rest of the candidates far behind. Nicolas del Caño has 5.6 percent, while Margarita Stolbizer and Adolfo Rodriguez are set to receive less than 3 percent of the vote share each.

Dicen also surveyed a likely scenario in a runoff election Nov. 22, giving Scioli the victory with 51.5 percent against 41.7 percent for Macri, who is a former president of the soccer club Boca Juniors.

The consulting firm also said that President Cristina Fernandez and her ruling party candidate enjoy an approval rating of about 53 percent, while Macri has a 44 percent favorable opinion rating.

Fernandez will leave office with various achievements in her favor, according to La Jornada, as she took over the country 12 years ago when the economy was in a shambles. The president has been able to lift the country from the worst economic crisis in its history.

In some areas of the country, according to La Jornada, unemployment was up to 60 percent before Fernandez was sworn in as president. But in August of this year, official statistics placed unemployment at 6.6 percent. Argentina is now among the countries with less unemployment around the world, including many in the European Union.

Argentina's unemployment levels are currently at par with Canada, Australia, Brazil and Chile.

RELATED: Argentina in the Final Stretch of Election Campaigning

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.