The president did not disappoint. With 54% of the vote, 37 points ahead of Hermes Binner, who came in second, she set records for the best performance and biggest margin of victory in the first round of an Argentine presidential election since the return of democracy in 1983. The Peronists won eight of the nine governor’s races, increased their majority in the Senate and retook the lower house of Congress, which they had lost in 2009. For the next two years at least Ms Fernández should be able to govern virtually unfettered.
Once criticised for seeming cold and distant, the president continued her recent trend of showing more personality once the results were announced. She invited her children on stage to celebrate, and even joined Amadou Boudou—her running mate and current economy minister, who moonlights as a rock guitar player—in a victory dance. She referred frequently to Néstor Kirchner, her husband and predecessor as president who died of a heart attack last year, calling him “the founder of this victory” and assuring supporters that he “is here, today more than ever.” She tried to strike a conciliatory note, chiding followers who booed when she mentioned Mauricio Macri, the opposition mayor of Buenos Aires. Then again, she adopted a similar tone after her first electoral victory four years ago, only to become a highly polarising president.
Ms Fernández has given no signs that she plans to modify her fiscal and monetary policies, even as Argentina’s room for economic manouevre dwindles. A cabinet reshuffle is expected, but it will probably involve giving new positions to the same group of ministers rather than bringing in new blood. The opposition remains as divided as ever, and many of its factions may well support the president on specific initiatives they favour. The most controversial of those would be a proposal to switch from a presidential system to a parliamentary one, which would enable Ms Fernández, who otherwise would not be able to run for re-election again in 2017, to stay in power. She said in her victory speech that she will not try to remain in office. But Mr Binner, a Socialist, has said he would back such a change. If the economic tailwinds that have benefited Argentina over the last decade, including high soyabean prices and rapid growth in neighbouring Brazil, remain strong, it will be hard to stop Ms Fernández from doing whatever she pleases.
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