The issues of the economy, inflation and debt owed to the International Monetary Fund dominated Sunday the first presidential candidates ‘ debate scheduled for October 22 in Argentina, which was also marked by sharp discussions about the dictatorship’s record.
The candidate of the government bloc (center-left), Sergio Massa, the minister of economy, whose inflation rate reached 124% during his reign in one year, was particularly criticized by his main rivals, the radical liberal economist Javier Mele, who is hostile to the “political class”, and the candidate of the opposition center-right coalition Patricia Bullrich, former minister during the term of liberal President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019).
The majority of opinion polls conducted over the past month showed close results in the expectations of the competition between Mele and Massa in the second round scheduled in November, led by Javier Mele with about 33-35% of the vote, ahead of Sergio Massa expected to receive about 29-30%, followed by Bullrich by a wide margin with 25-26%.
The other two candidates, Miriam Bregman (far-left) and Juan chiaretti (centrist coalition), did not exceed 4%.
