Mauricio Macri becomes Argentina’s new president, ends Peronist Party’s 12-year-rule

Argentina has found its new president in Mauricio Macri.

Macri is now confirmed to be the next Argentine president after leading Daniel Scioli by 52.1 percent to 47.9 percent, with 91.5 percent of polling counts. He is going to replace Cristina Kirchner, a.k.a. CFK ,who ruled since 2007.

Macri thanked his staff as he danced on stage in Buenos Aires. The current mayor of the city called it a “historic day” and “the changing of an era” as he managed to topple the 12-year rule of the Peronist Party. Interestingly, Macri lost the first round to Scioli, a former vice president who is the governor of the Buenos Aires Province.

Scioli criticised Macri during the campaign for the Conservative politician’s orthodox policies. He warned that Macri’s economic policies might create a similar situation like in 2001-02 when millions of people in the country were thrown into poverty due to an economic crisis.

Macri, for his part, promised to dismiss CFK’s leftist populism and turn the third largest economy in Latin America into a free-market course.

In the words used by the BBC’s Wyre Davies, Macri danced “like an embarrassing grandfather at a wedding,” who could not care less. It was difficult to predict such a victory for Macri even a few months back.

Scioli, unlike CFK, lacks charisma and close relations with the working class base of the Peronist Party. Macri, on the other hand, promises economic reform, which the voters have apparently backed him for.

"Scioli did not manage to differentiate himself from Fernandez and so people stopped seeing him as a change of style and went over to Macri," the ABC quoted analyst Mariel Fornoni as saying.

According to Washington-based analyst Gary Kleiman, Macri is exactly what they wished for. “Macri's win signals a decisive break with the Kirchner-Fernandez legacy of creditor confrontation and economic mismanagement," Kleiman said.

"Bond and stock markets will enjoy the afterglow into the New Year, but the inherited currency and fiscal mess and direct and portfolio investor antagonism may linger with the Peronists' continued political hold on parts of the government apparatus.”

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.