Argentine general election, 1999

Argentine general election, 1999

October 24, 1999
Registered	24,111,270
Turnout	82.32%
Nominee Fernando de la Rúa Eduardo Duhalde Party Radical Civic Union Justicialist Party Alliance Alliance for Work, Justice and Education Justicialist Concertation for Change Home state City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Running mate Carlos Álvarez Ramón Ortega States carried 19 + CABA 4 Popular vote 9,167,220 7,255,586 Percentage 48.37% 38.28%
President before election Carlos Menem Justicialist Party Elected President Fernando de la Rúa Alliance for Work, Justice and Education

Argentina held presidential and parliamentary elections on 24 October 1999.

Background

The Convertibility Plan, which had helped bring about stable prices and economic recovery and modernization, had endured the 1995 Mexican peso crisis, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and other global shocks; but not without strain. Argentine business confidence struggled following these events and unemployment, already higher as a result of a wave of imports and sharp gains in productivity after 1990, had hovered around 15% since 1995. Economic problems also led to a sudden increase in crime, particularly property crime, and President Carlos Menem's unpopularity had left his Justicialist Party (whose populist Peronist platform he had largely abandoned) weakened.^[1][2]

Himself experienced with the burdens of an economy in crisis, former President and centrist UCR leader Raúl Alfonsín negotiated a big tent alliance with the center-left FrePaSo in 1996. Following the Alliance's success in 1997, the party geared for the 1999 elections by nominating Buenos Aires Mayor Fernando de la Rúa for president and Frepaso leader Carlos Chacho Álvarez as his running mate. De la Rúa and Álvarez were both veteran also-rans. A former Peronist who had broken ranks with his party following Menem's turn to the right in 1989, Álvarez remained the country's most prominent center-left figure following the Frepaso's defeat in 1995. He also provided a counterbalance to de la Rúa, a moderately conservative UCR figure who had himself (in 1973) been the running mate on a defeated UCR ticket.

The Justicialist Party was badly positioned as the economy re-entered recession in late 1998. President Menem had only worsened its image by flirting with seeking an unprecedented third straight term, though this was barred by the Argentine Constitution. Unable to persuade Congress to approve these plans, he pledged to run again in 2003, stating that "if I had been permitted to run, I am sure I would have won."^[3] His dismissal of de la Rúa as "boring" moreover was effectively used by the Alliance campaign in their ads, by which de la Rúa's tedium became a desirable alternative to Menem's "party" (a reference to the outgoing administration's numerous corruption scandals).^[4]

Broadsides like these only further undermined his party's nominee, Buenos Aires Province Governor Eduardo Duhalde, who as a more traditional Peronist, had been distanced from the President since being elected governor in 1991. Duhalde's own approval suffered, however, as crime rates in the Greater Buenos Aires area (home to 2/3 of his constituents) rose steadily. This weakness was highlighted by the Ramallo massacre, a botched police intervention of a bank robbery on September 17 in which members of the force were implicated. An imposing figure in his party despite his diminutive height, Duhalde could only agree on a marginal figure in the party as his running mate: pop musician and former Tucumán Province Governor Ramón Ortega.^[5]

Domingo Cavallo, the economist behind the "Argentine miracle" of the early 1990s, had become unpopular during the 1995 recession. He was acrimoniously dismissed by the President in 1996 following his public allegations of influential "mafias" in Menem's entourage. His statements gained validity, however, following the 1997 murder of a news magazine photojournalist targeted by a shipping magnate close to Menem. Cavallo founded the Action for the Republic, and thus became a further obstacle to Duhalde, who would now lose a large share of the Menem vote to the unpredictable economist.^[5]

The recession, which had begun to ease on the eve of the October 24 election date, remained a central campaign issue. De la Rúa, who had earned plaudits for his fiscal discipline while mayor of Buenos Aires, stressed the need to crack down on graft and corruption. Besides referring to Menem himself, he pointed to the presence of exiled Paraguayan strongman General Lino Oviedo (who had been allowed in as a fugitive by Menem) as a poster child of the prevailing state of the rule of law. Duhalde focused on promises to combat the recession and double-digit unemployment. An anticipated runoff election was ultimately not needed, since the Alliance obtained 48% of the total vote - winning on the first round by 10% over Duhalde. Cavallo received only 10%, and much of the remainder went to left-wing parties (in contrast to 1995, when the far-right gained top minor-party status).^[5]

The 1999 legislative elections renewed about half of the Chamber of Deputies (130 seats); there were no elections to the Senate. The Alliance obtained 63 seats, the Justicialist Party 51, and Domingo Cavallo's Action for the Republic 7. This left the Justicialists in the minority in the Lower House for the first time since 1989.^[6]

Results

President

Presidential candidate		Vice Presidential candidate	Party or coalition	Votes	%
	Fernando de la Rúa	Carlos Álvarez	Alliance for Work, Justice and Education Autonomist Party of Corrientes Christian Democratic Party Democratic Progressive Party Broad Front Intransigent Party Liberal Party of Corrientes Integration and Development Movement Democratic Socialist Party Popular Socialist Party Radical Civic Union	9,167,220	48.37
	Eduardo Duhalde	Ramón "Palito" Ortega	Union of the Democratic Centre     Concertación Justicialista para el Cambio Partido Acción Chubutense Acción Ciudadana Alianza Frente de Integración Federal Alianza Frente para el Cambio de Catriel Alianza Frente de la Unidad Alianza Todo por Entre Ríos Alianza Unión para el Nuevo Chaco Alianza Unidos por Catamarca Concertación Justicialista para el Cambio Confederación Laborista Partido Conservador Popular Federal Party Frente de los Jubilados Frente Justicialista Frente Justicialista de la Esperanza Frente para el Cambio Jubilados en Acción Justicialist Party Movimiento Federalista Pampeano Movimiento Patriótico de Liberación Movimiento Popular Bonaerense Movimiento Popular Unido Movimiento Regional de Pueblo New Party Política Abierta para la Integridad Social Partido del Progreso Social Pueblo en Comunión Unión Vecinalista     Frente de Integración Federal Partido Nacionalista Constitucional Movement for Dignity and Independence	7,255,586	38.28
	Domingo Cavallo	Armando Caro Figueroa	Alianza Acción por la República Action for the Republic Alianza Nueva República en Acción Federal Party Movimiento Patagónico Popular Partido Provincial Rionegrino Union of the Democratic Centre	1,937,544	10.22
	Patricia Walsh	Rogelio De Leonardi	Alianza Izquierda Unida Communist Party Partido de los Comunistas Movimiento por el Socialismo y el Trabajo Workers' Socialist Movement Pueblo Unido	151,977	0.80
	Lía Méndez	Jorge Pompei	Humanist Party	131,811	0.70
	Jorge Altamira	Pablo Rieznik	Workers' Party	113,916	0.60
	Jorge Reyna	Gabriel Moccia	Alianza Frente de la Resistencia Corriente Patria Libre Frente de la Resistencia	54,809	0.29
	Juan Ricardo Mussa	Fernanda Herrera	Alianza Social Cristiana Autonomist Party of Corrientes Popular Union	53,143	0.28
	José Montes	Oscar Hernández	Socialist Workers' Party	44,551	0.24
	Domingo Quarracino	Amelia Rearte	Authentic Socialist Party	43,147	0.23
Total				18,953,704	100
Positive votes				18,953,704	95.49
Blank votes				708,876	3.57
Invalid votes				186,761	0.94
Turnout				19,849,341	82.32
Abstentions				4,261,929	17.68
Registered voters				24,111,270	100
Source: Dirección Nacional Electoral - Recorriendo las Elecciones de 1983 a 2013

Legislative elections

Following these elections, the Argentine Chamber of Deputies was constituted as follows:

Party/Electoral Alliance	Seats	Change	Vote	Vote Percentage
Alliance	126	15	8,091,473	43.7%
Justicialist Party	99	19	5,986,674	32.3%
Regional Parties	18	2		4.7%
Action for the Republic	10	7	1,395,447	7.5%
Democratic Progressive Party	3	1	525,890	2.8%
UCeDé	1	1	611,182	3.3%
others	3	3		5.7%
Invalid votes			1,315,844	6.6%
Total seats	257		19,832,706	[6]

See also

• Politics of Argentina
• List of political parties in Argentina

References