Populist candidate Javier Milei has emerged as the front-runner in Argentina’s primary elections in an unexpected turn of events, signaling a possible change in the country’s political landscape.
The libertarian economist, rock star, and national lawmaker secured 32.31 percent of the of votes—far more than predicted by national polls—leaving the main opposition bloc, United for Change, trailing at 28 percent and the ruling Peronist coalition at 27 percent.
While primary voting is used to select candidates for the October presidential elections, it could also provide a clear indicator of who is the voters’ favorite to win the presidency.
Speaking to his supporters on Aug 13, Mr. Milei, who leads the La Libertad Avanza coalition, vowed to “put an end to the parasitic and useless political caste that is destroying this country.”
“We are facing the end of the caste model. That model based on the atrocity that says that where there is a need, a right is born, but forgets that someone has to pay for that right, whose maximum expression is that aberration called social justice.”
Admirer of Trump
Mr. Milei’s coalition has pledged to drastically cut government spending, deregulate private gun ownership, and enact a plan to privatize the market for organ donors. The libertarian has also proposed holding a referendum to decide whether abortion should be allowed.A known admirer of the policies of former U.S. President Donald Trump, Mr. Milei has also proposed dollarizing the economy amid depleting reserves and high inflation, which stands at 116 percent.
“You take away the bill-printing machine from politicians. ... That’s what’s going to put an end to inflation. Because inflation—everywhere and always—is a monetary phenomenon generated by an excess amount of money [in circulation],” he said.
Some economists have argued that while dollarization would cure inflation, it would leave Argentina with fewer tools to combat shocks to the economy and likely require partial defaults on the country’s fiscal obligations.
Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, supports Mr. Milei’s dollarization proposal.
Mr. Hanke, who served as an economic adviser to the Reagan White House, also advised Argentine President Carlos Menem throughout the 1990s. The professor has been a decades-long proponent of the South American country’s dollarization.
“I first proposed dollarization over 25 years ago to President Menem. It’s time to mothball the Central Bank of Argentina and the peso and put them in a museum and replace them with the U.S. dollar.”
Political analyst Carlos Fara, based in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, told Al Jazeera that the wide-ranging support for Mr Milei is not ideologically driven. His supporters ranged from both ends of the political spectrum, with strong support from young voters.
“They are not right-wing votes. They are votes that are free of politics,” he said. “This voter is looking for a hope for the future, and they have found that in Milei.”
