Argentinian President Javier Milei’s party has emerged victorious in the country’s midterm legislative elections.
The win is a relief to Milei, whose poll numbers had sagged in recent weeks and it boosts his ability to push forward with his radical overhaul of the economy, including free-market reforms and deep austerity measures.
According to early results, Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza, scored 40.84 percent of the votes cast for members of Congress on Sunday, compared with 31.64 percent for the opposition Peronist coalition.
The midterm elections were the first national test of Milei’s support since he won office two years ago, and will help him maintain the support of United States President Donald Trump, whose administration recently provided Argentina with a hefty financial bailout but has threatened to pull away if the libertarian leader did not do well.
To support Milei, the Trump administration offered a bailout potentially worth $40bn, including a $20bn currency swap, which is already signed, and a proposed $20bn debt investment facility.
At La Libertad Avanza’s headquarters, Milei hailed the party’s victory as a “turning point” for the country and promised to charge ahead with his reforms.
He seized on the results as evidence that Argentina had turned the page on decades of Peronism that had brought the country infamy for repeatedly defaulting on its sovereign debt. “The Argentinian people left decadence behind and opted for progress,” Milei said, thanking “all those who supported the ideas of freedom to make Argentina great again.”
Milei also suggested a deeper willingness to form partnerships, saying “there are dozens of deputies and senators from other parties with whom we can reach basic agreements.”
Half of the seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies, or 127 seats, and one-third of the upper Senate, or 24 seats, were up for grabs in the election.
Milei said that his party has now tripled its seat count, winning 101 seats in the lower house, up from 37, and 20 seats in the Senate, up from six.
Dramatic Political Shift For Milei’s party
The most surprising results of the midterm election were in Buenos Aires province, where Milei’s party clawed its way back from defeat in last month’s local elections to run neck-and-neck with the Peronists.
La Libertad Avanza scored 41.5% of the vote in Buenos Aires province compared with 40.8% for the Peronist coalition, according to official results
The province has long been a political stronghold for the Peronists, and the win for Milei’s party marked a dramatic political shift and a major comeback for Milei from Buenos Aires congressional elections in September.
The strong showing in the election ensures Milei will have enough support in Congress to uphold presidential vetoes, prevent an impeachment effort, and see through his ambitious plans for tax and labour reforms in the coming months.
Analysts said that the stronger-than-expected showing could reflect fear of renewed economic turmoil if the country abandoned Milei’s austerity policies which, while slashing subsidies long relied on by many Argentines, have succeeded in drastically slowing inflation.
Marcelo Garcia, Americas director of risk consultancy Horizon Engage, opined that the result is “better than even the most optimistic Milei supporters were hoping for.”
Garcia said that with the result, Milei will be able to easily defend his decrees and vetoes in Congress, adding that allies will have more of an incentive to support a winning President.
In the last few months, the opposition had overturned several Milei vetoes of spending bills he had said threatened the country’s fiscal balance.
Milei has said he expects a cabinet shake-up after the election that could include members of the centrist PRO party, a frequent ally of the government in Congress led by former President Mauricio Macri.
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