Argentina’s President Javier Milei suffered a major setback as his libertarian party, La Libertad Avanza, lost a key vote in the country’s most populous province by a wide margin. In Sunday’s provincial election, the left-leaning Peronist opposition secured about 47% of the vote, compared with 34% for Milei’s party, with 83% of ballots counted by the electoral authority.
The Buenos Aires province election is widely seen as a barometer for the national midterm elections scheduled for late October, where Milei aims to expand his party’s minority presence in Congress to implement plans to reduce inflation and scale back government intervention.
Buenos Aires province, home to over a third of Argentina’s population, has long been a stronghold of Peronist politics. It previously helped propel Milei’s political rival, former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, to the Senate nearly two decades ago. Kirchner, who is currently under house arrest following a corruption conviction upheld by the country’s top court, remains a symbolic figure for the Peronist movement.
The election comes after a recent corruption scandal that rocked Milei’s administration in the lead-up to the vote, contributing to concerns among investors and political observers. Analysts predict that the result may further destabilize Argentina’s markets and complicate Milei’s efforts to advance his economic reforms ahead of the midterms.
