Javier Maili achieved what many thought unlikely for some time, and was elected president of Argentina on Sunday, and he faced many challenges, highlighted by governing without a majority in a country suffering from a crisis and promised to re-establish it, in addition to inflation, which reached 143%, and the deteriorating economy of the country.
The Argentine newspaper infobay said in a report that the liberal economist, who broke into Argentine politics just two years ago, won with an anti-regime speech in the presidential run-off with 55.7% of the votes compared to about 44.3% for the ruling Peronist candidate Sergio Massa, after 99% of the votes were counted, and said immediately after announcing his victory, “today begins the process of reconstruction of Argentina.
Argentina is going through one of its worst economic and social moments since democracy was restored forty years ago, and it is the main factor that made Maili’s message against the “political class” attract a lot of frustrated voters.
The Argentine President-elect proposed radical changes ranging from the dollarization of the economy, the closure of the central bank, the reduction of the role of the state in society and the privatization of state-owned enterprises.
But many experts predict that Mele’s electoral program will contradict the system of checks and balances in Argentine democracy, because the next president will lack a majority in Congress and will have to negotiate even with rivals whom he insulted in the election campaign.
Argentine political scientist Sergio Bernstein says: “Miley has a structural weakness that makes him able to advance his agenda in the Legislature . And in a federal state like Argentina, where rulers have extraordinary weight, he doesn’t have a single ruler from his party,”he said.
But recently the country has lacked political consensus in the medium term, and confrontation between the ruling party and the opposition has become the norm, which, in turn, has led to increased instability and deterioration of the economy.
Argentina today has more than 18 million people or 40% of its total population living in poverty, as well as an annual inflation rate of 143% in the last 12 months to October, according to official figures.
In this context, the Argentines decided to assign the government to a candidate whose anti-regime rhetoric evokes comparisons with former far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro or American Donald Trump, whom he says he admires.
Miley also raised the possibility of calling a referendum to repeal the law that allowed abortion in 2020, although experts disagree on whether that would be constitutional.
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Even if he overcomes the major political challenges he faces, he will face practical obstacles to the implementation of two of his most symbolic proposals, such as the dollarization of the economy and the closure of the central bank.
The lack of control over inflation in Argentina prompted Miley to emphasize that the country is “unable to get a currency” and that the issuance of banknotes by the central bank represents a “theft” from the population.
