Milei’s party wins high-stakes Argentina elections, early results show

Early results indicate that Argentine President Javier Milei’s party won the country’s legislative elections, strengthening his government’s ability to continue its economic reform.

The results showed that Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza, received 40.84 percent of the votes cast on Sunday for members of Congress, compared to the opposition Peronist coalition, which received 31.64 percent.

More than 90% of the ballots were counted, according to the figure.

Milei’s popularity was tested at the election, which came after his election two years ago with the promise to bring the country’s struggling economy back to life through a number of painful reforms.

The libertarian leader wanted to increase the size of his small minority in Congress and keep the support of Donald Trump, whose administration recently offered Argentina a sizable financial bailout but threatened to withdraw if Milei did not do well.

Numerous Milei’s supporters chanted, chanted, and even shed some tears at La Libertad Avanza’s election night party.

Facundo Campos, a 38-year-old marketing consultant, told the AFP news agency, “I’m very happy and excited. I didn’t expect such a large number.”

The Argentine province where Milei’s party won the most surprising elections on Sunday was where the Peronists and Milei’s party collided last month in close competition.

The victory for Milei’s party marked a significant political shift for the province, which has long been a political ally of the Peronists.

Argentinians voted in the lower chamber of deputies, which has 127 seats, and the Senate, which has 24 seats, making up a third of the country’s total, in the elections on Sunday.

While Milei’s relatively new party only has 37 deputies and six senators, the Peronist opposition movement has the largest majority in both houses.

As Milei pursues his campaign to devalue the state and deregulate the economy, Milei’s position is strengthened by the outcome, despite his need to forge alliances with the center-right in Congress to get legislation passed.

Washington earlier this month committed to a $ 40 billion bailout, including a $ 20 billion currency swap to stabilize the peso’s value, and a potential $ 20 billion “facility.”

Trump has threatened to withdraw if his populist ally performs poorly, warning that “we are not going to waste our time because you have somebody whose philosophy has no chance of making Argentina great again.”

According to analysts, Milei’s impressive performance on Sunday likely would mean at least a third of her lower house seats would be used to defend presidential vetoes and stop an attempt at impeachment.

Political analyst Sergio Berensztein told the Associated Press that “we had a much better election for the government than the polls predicted.”

However, he warned, “it’s a boost that should be taken with caution because the situation is still challenging both politically and economically.”

Since the Peronist opposition’s defeat in a provincial election last month, which caused a panic in the markets and led to a selloff in the peso, Milei’s government has been trying to avoid a currency crisis. This led to the US Treasury’s extraordinary intervention.

A number of scandals, including allegations of bribery against Milei’s powerful sister Karina Milei, damaged the president’s reputation as an anti-corruption advocate and wreaked havoc among his electorate who was enraged by his harsh austerity measures.

Many Argentines are still struggling to make ends meet despite the budget cuts significantly lowering inflation, which was at a high of 289 percent in April 2024 but fell to just 32 percent last month.