A promised new era for Argentina has begun – with the far-right candidate Javier Milei scoring a considerable near 56% majority of all votes counted; it is clear the people of Argentina are ready for the promised “reconstruction” – they know what to expect from Milei’s political agenda.
With the country recently having gone through an economic recession resulting in the Argentinian Peso’s exchange rates dropping historically low, it makes sense that the country needs significant and rapid change. Milei promises to ditch the currency entirely and instead adopt the US dollar in an attempt to regulate rising inflation and exchange rates. Privatisation forms a further priority in the newly elected president’s policies – Milei announced in one of his post-election statements to the public that “everything that can be privatised, will be privatised”, and if privatisation is not possible in a particular sector, it will be rebuilt in a way that allows for privatisation to take place.
Milei announced in one of his post-election statements to the public that “everything that can be privatised, will be privatised”
On the other hand, the leader of the right-wing party has been criticised by the opposition for his promise to cut welfare funding and eliminate the ministries of culture, women, health, and education from his legislative agenda. Whereas in most developing countries, the areas listed form some of the key legislative priorities, Argentina has clearly taken the opposite route and prioritised its economic, rather than social, development in its new presidential term. This was further reinforced through Milei’s promise to abolish abortion, which has only been legal in Argentina for under three years, along with his pledge to follow in America’s footsteps and loosen gun laws.
However, Javier Milei’s arguable legitimacy is significantly undermined by his minority status in the Argentinian Congress, implying that it may be increasingly difficult to pass new legislation and deliver his promised changes and possible improvements. This risks his government losing stability and potentially losing the overall consensus over itslegislative agenda, which will rapidly undermine Milei’s presidential success.
Javier Milei’s arguable legitimacy is significantly undermined by his minority status in the Argentinian Congress
As mentioned previously, whereas less economically developed countries such as Argentina must prioritise said development in their policy agenda, when a candidate promises improvement in one area at the expense of another, such as that of economic development over health topics such as abortion, which has been labelled a human right by the Human Rights Watch along with Amnesty International, the people of Argentina may quickly change their minds about the new president and the promised “reconstruction” of the country, causing Javier Milei to lose his present stable majority.
