Economy minister tops initial round of polls in Argentina

In the first round of Argentina’s presidential election, the country’s economy minister, Sergio Massa, emerged as the leading candidate.

With nearly all of the votes counted, Massa garnered over 36% of the votes during Sunday’s election. This outcome was unexpected as it was widely anticipated that far-right candidate Javier Milei, would lead the race. Milei managed to secure around 30% of the ballots.

Analysts had previously expressed doubts about Massa’s chances in the election due to the significant increase in inflation during his tenure as Argentina’s economy minister, with inflation rates soaring as high as 140%.

Notably, if either candidate had managed to secure 45% of the votes in this round, it would have eliminated the need for a runoff election, which is now scheduled for November 19.