General elections were held in Argentina in 1999; the president was elected on 24 October 1999 while legislative elections were held on four dates, 8 August, 12 September, 26 September and 24 October, though most polls took place on 24 October.

Background The Convertibility Plan, which had helped bring about stable prices and economic recovery and modernization, had endured the 1995 Mexican peso crisis, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and other global shocks; but not without strain. Argentine business confidence struggled following these events and unemployment, already higher as a result of a wave of imports and sharp gains in productivity after 1990, had hovered around 15% since 1995. Economic problems also led to a sudden increase in crime, particularly property crime, and President Carlos Menem's unpopularity had left his Justicialist Party (whose populist Peronist platform he had largely abandoned) weakened.Todo Argentina: 1995-99

Having himself experienced the burdens of an economy in crisis, former president and centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR) leader Raúl Alfonsín negotiated the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education between the center-left FREPASO, who had finished second in the 1995 general elections, and his own UCR party. The Alliance had great electoral success in the 1997 midterm elections winning a majority of congressional seats up for election preventing the Justicialist Party from obtaining a legislative majority, though they retained a legislative plurality. Following their initial victory, the party geared for the 1999 elections by nominating Buenos Aires Mayor Fernando de la Rúa for president and FREPASO leader Carlos 'Chacho' Álvarez as his running mate. De la Rúa had overwhelmingly won the party's Álvarez, a former Peronist who had broken ranks with his party following Menem's turn to the right in 1989, remained the country's most prominent center-left figure following FREPASO's defeat in 1995. He also provided an ideological counterbalance to De la Rúa, a moderately conservative UCR figure who had himself, in 1973, previously been the running mate on a UCR ticket defeated by Juan Perón.

The Justicialist Party was badly positioned as the economy re-entered recession in late 1998. President Menem had only worsened its image by flirting with seeking an unprecedented third straight term, though this was barred by the Argentine Constitution. Unable to persuade Congress to approve these plans, he pledged to run again in 2003, stating that "if I had been permitted to run, I am sure I would have won." His dismissal of de la Rúa as "boring" moreover was effectively used by the Alliance campaign in their ads, by which de la Rúa's tedium became a desirable alternative to Menem's "party" (a reference to the outgoing administration's numerous corruption scandals).

Broadsides like these only further undermined his party's nominee, Buenos Aires Province Governor Eduardo Duhalde, who as a more traditional Peronist, had been distanced from the President since being elected governor in 1991. Duhalde's own approval suffered, however, as crime rates in the Greater Buenos Aires area (home to 2/3 of his constituents) rose steadily. This weakness was highlighted by the Ramallo massacre, a botched police intervention of a bank robbery on September 17 in which members of the force were implicated. An imposing figure in his party despite his diminutive height, Duhalde could only agree on a marginal figure in the party as his running mate: pop musician and former Tucumán Province Governor Ramón Ortega.Todo Argentina: 1999

Domingo Cavallo, the economist behind the "Argentine miracle" of the early 1990s, had become unpopular during the 1995 recession. He was acrimoniously dismissed by the President in 1996 following his public allegations of influential "mafias" in Menem's entourage. His statements gained validity, however, following the 1997 murder of a news magazine photojournalist targeted by a shipping magnate close to Menem. Cavallo founded the Action for the Republic, and thus became a further obstacle to Duhalde, who would now lose a large share of the Menem vote to the unpredictable economist.

The recession, which had begun to ease on the eve of the October 24 election date, remained a central campaign issue. De la Rúa, who had earned plaudits for his fiscal discipline while mayor of Buenos Aires, stressed the need to crack down on graft and corruption. Besides referring to Menem himself, he pointed to the presence of exiled Paraguayan strongman General Lino Oviedo (who had been allowed in as a fugitive by Menem) as a poster child of the prevailing state of the rule of law. Duhalde focused on promises to combat the recession and double-digit unemployment. An anticipated runoff election was ultimately not needed, since the Alliance obtained 48% of the total vote - winning on the first round by 10% over Duhalde. Cavallo received only 10%, and much of the remainder went to left-wing parties (in contrast to 1995, when the far-right gained top minor-party status).

The 1999 legislative elections renewed about half of the Chamber of Deputies (130 seats); there were no elections to the Senate. The Alliance obtained 63 seats, the Justicialist Party 51, and Domingo Cavallo's Action for the Republic 7. This left the Justicialists in the minority in the Lower House for the first time since 1989.

Candidates for President Justicialist Party (populist): Governor Eduardo Duhalde of Buenos Aires Province. Alliance for Work, Justice and Education (social democrat): Chief of Government Fernando De la Rúa of the City of Buenos Aires. Action for the Republic (conservative liberal): Deputy Domingo Cavallo of the City of Buenos Aires.

Results President

Chamber of Deputies

Results by province ProvinceAlianzaJusticialist ConsensusAROthers Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % SeatsBuenos Aires3,080,13343.3016 2,984,898 41.9716 511,465 7.192 536,175 7.541Buenos Aires City1,029,34052.398 439,199 22.351 348,814 17.753 147,570 7.51—Catamarca82,08653.941 66,570 43.741——— 3,537 2.32—Chaco255,09658.602 172,846 39.711——— 7,351 1.69—Chubut105,01760.742 64,346 37.211——— 3,544 2.05—Córdoba761,72845.744 675,203 40.554 170,215 10.221 58,111 3.49—Corrientes 192,175 45.432203,56948.122 22,562 5.33— 4,696 1.11—Entre Ríos315,65949.942 289,117 45.742 21,655 3.43— 5,626 0.89—Formosa 91,791 48.65195,74350.742——— 1,150 0.61—Jujuy116,36949.322 107,762 45.671 7,513 3.18— 4,289 1.82—La Pampa 79,260 47.63179,60147.841 5,468 3.29— 2,073 1.25—La Rioja 38,860 31.02186,41268.982——————Mendoza302,24438.272 175,164 22.181 66,812 8.461 245,531 31.091Misiones 189,938 45.682224,02953.872——— 1,874 0.45—Neuquén 74,671 36.311 33,327 16.21————97,62347.481Río Negro136,12157.322 60,961 25.671 34,205 14.40— 6,188 2.61—Salta200,69744.942 210,723 47.182 20,044 4.49— 15,151 3.39—San Juan159,25451.922 99,521 32.441 45,013 14.67— 2,950 0.96—San Luis73,27644.621 67,490 41.091——— 23,471 14.29—Santa Cruz37,56145.851 37,334 45.581——— 7,020 8.57—Santa Fe865,84652.326 547,004 33.053 194,644 11.761 47,468 2.87—Santiago del Estero115,65234.352 189,627 56.332 8,776 2.61— 22,597 6.71—Tierra del Fuego 10,112 25.761 9,658 24.60111,48429.261 8,000 20.38—Tucumán 184,190 32.702233,68241.492 34,062 6.05— 111,281 19.761 Total 8,497,076 45.89 66 7,153,786 38.63 51 1,502,732 8.12 9 1,363,276 7.36 4

Governors Provincial elections were held in every province except Corrientes. Elections for Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires were held the following May. The Justicialist Party increased their majority among governors by one, to 15; outgoing Vice President Carlos Ruckauf was elected Governor of Buenos Aires Province, the nation's largest. The UCR retained 6, mainly in the Alliance (all but 3 Alliance candidates, in turn, were from the UCR). The Justicialists wrested governorships from the UCR (Córdoba), from the MPF in Tierra del Fuego (which endorsed the Justicialists), and from the far-right Republican Force (Tucumán); the UCR, in turn, displaced the Justicialists in Entre Ríos, Mendoza, and San Juan.

DistrictElected GovernorParty%Runner-upParty%Buenos Aires Carlos Ruckauf Justicialist 48.3 Graciela Fernández Meijide FREPASO (Alliance) 41.4Catamarca Oscar Castillo Civic Social Front (UCR) 52.6 Ramón Saadi United for Catamarca 44.7Chaco Ángel Rozas R Front for All 63.4 Jorge Capitanich Union for a New Chaco 35.9Chubut José Lizurume UCR (Alliance) 52.0 Marcelo Guinle Justicialist 46.1 City of Buenos Aires1 Aníbal Ibarra FREPASO (Alliance) 49.3 Domingo Cavallo Encounter for the City 33.2 Córdoba2 José Manuel de la Sota Justicialist 49.6 Ramón Mestre L UCR 40.5Entre Ríos Sergio Montiel UCR (Alliance) 49.1 Héctor Maya All for Entre Ríos 47.5 Formosa Gildo Insfrán R Justicialist 73.7 Gabriel Hernández UCR (Alliance) 26.1Jujuy Eduardo Fellner R Justicialist 50.6 Gerardo Morales UCR (Alliance) 49.4La Pampa Rubén Marín R Justicialist 56.7 Juan Carlos Passo UCR (Alliance) 39.8La Rioja Ángel Maza R Justicialist 68.6 José Luis Bellia UCR (Alliance) 29.5Mendoza Roberto Iglesias UCR (Alliance) 37.9 Carlos Balter Democratic 32.2Misiones Carlos Rovira R Front for Change 53.7 Ricardo Barrios Arrechea UCR (Alliance) 45.8Neuquén Jorge Sobisch Neuquén People's Movement 44.2 Oscar Massei FREPASO (Alliance) 36.7Río Negro Pablo Verani R UCR (Alliance) 48.6 Remo Costanzo Union for Río Negro 41.7Salta Juan Carlos Romero R Justicialist 58.5 Ricardo Gómez Diez UCR (Alliance) 40.2San Juan Alfredo Avelín UCR (Alliance) 55.7 Jorge Escobar LJusticialist 42.3 San Luis Adolfo Rodríguez Saá RJusticialist 54.3 Walter Ceballos UCR (Alliance) 45.0Santa Cruz Néstor Kirchner RJusticialist 54.6 Anselmo Martínez UCR (Alliance) 44.3Santa Fe Carlos Reutemann Justicialist 57.6 Horacio Usandizaga UCR (Alliance) 41.4Santiago del Estero Carlos Juárez R Justicialist 52.2 Héctor Ruiz New Alliance 26.3 Tierra del Fuego Carlos Manfredotti Justicialist 50.9 Jorge Colazo UCR (Alliance) 49.1Tucumán Julio Miranda Justicialist 36.5 Ricardo Bussi Republican Force 35.8

1: Election held 7 May 2000. The City of Buenos Aires is not a province but an autonomous federal territory. The head of the local Executive is referred to as "Government Chief." 2: Election held 20 December 1998. R: Reelected. L: Incumbent lost.

See also Politics of Argentina List of political parties in Argentina

References