Page 6 - MONTT LATIN AMERICAN MAGAZINE, AUGUST 2021 (English)

Argentina: Government Focuses on Legislative Elections
With great fear of losing in the November elections, where half of the Chamber of Deputies and a third of the Senate will be renewed, President Fernandez dictated a series of economic relief measures for the population. The polls show the o icial conglomerate as the big loser with 36 percent of the votes, while the opposition would win with 40 percent of the votes.
One of the main objectives of President Alberto Fernandez now is for his conglomerate to win the legislative elections next November; after all, in the next elections Argentina will de ne the future of the Fernandez government. It will not be easy. A survey carried out by the Elections Consultative Observatory showed what is the intention of votes to elect national deputies in the so- called PASO elections, that is, Primary, Open(Abirta), Simultaneous and Mandatory (Obligatoria).
The sample consisted of 1,276 people over 16 years of age who live in private homes with a landline or mobile phone, strati ed by region and ordered by sex and age group.
Juntos para el Cambio, the opposition party is the group that would be
winning 40 percent, while the o icial conglomerate, Frente de Todos, would reach 36 percent.
Because of this, the shares of Argentine companies soar on Wall Street. Led by Edenor, the companies’ papers advanced as much as 22 percent in one day. Local bonds, meanwhile, extended the hikes amid electoral speculation and country risk fell.
Argentine bonds on Wall Street exhibitedapositivebehaviourtowards the end of August, amplifying the improvements that occurred in recent days. In the market, attention already seems to focus on the elections, given the possibility of an eventual adverse electoral result for the Government; this can be seen as a positive driver on the part of investors.
Regarding the polls without prejudice to the fact that in some districts provincial and municipal positions are chosen, at the national level those of this year are mid-term voting, that is, they are not elected President and Vice President of the Nation, but only deputies and national senators. This will renew half of the Chamber of Deputies (128 of 257 seats) and a third of the Senate (24 of 72), which means that citizens of only eight ofthe24districtswillchosesenatorsthis year. These provinces are Catamarca, Chubut, Córdoba, Corrientes, La Pampa, Mendoza, Santa Fe and Tucumán.
The result of the midterm elections essentially defines whether the Congress will be favourable or opposed to a certain government; if the Casa Rosada will be able to remove the laws