BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) – Argentina’s ruling party candidate Daniel Scioli had a clear lead in yesterday’s presidential election, but his main rival’s party said it was sure Scioli would fall short of an outright win and have to face a run-off.
In a speech before thousands of party militants, Scioli reached out to swing voters for their support without explicitly accepting the vote would go to a second round.
“United together we will triumph,” Scioli told voters in a rallying call. “I call upon the undecided and independent voters to join this cause.”
In a rare direct attack on his main challenger, Mauricio Macri, the conservative mayor of Buenos Aires, Scioli said he was convinced Argentines did not want fiscal austerity and that Macri would abandon the country’s poor.
The outcome of the election will shape how the South American country tackles its economic woes, including high inflation, a central bank running precariously low on dollars and a sovereign debt default.
Scioli promises he will make only gradual changes to outgoing leader Cristina Fernandez’s brand of leftist populism while main pro-business opposition candidate Mauricio Macri talks of swiftly dismantling her protectionist controls to open up the ailing economy.
Marcos Pena, Macri’s chief campaign strategist, said their exit poll data showed there would be a second round.
“Now the real election begins,” exclaimed Maria Astigarraga, a 45-year-old doctor, inside the music-filled campaign headquarters of Macri’s ‘Let’s Change’ alliance. “There’s no doubt we’re going to a second round!”
