With two weeks to Argentina's presidential runoff on 22 November and to decide who will succeed Cristina Fernandez on 10 December, opposition candidate Mauricio Macri has a several points lead over the incumbent Daniel Scioli, although there still is a significant percentage of undecided voters, according to a public opinion poll released on Sunday.
Sergio Massa is seen as the kingmaker in Argentina’s approaching presidential election runoff next 22 November, with the power to influence more than a fifth of the electorate after taking third place in last month’s first round.
Argentina's election season has dramatically changed the agricultural landscape in the country, one of the world's breadbaskets. Exporters are now more confident than ever that profits will soar next year, creating a short term impact of plunging sales abroad and reduced cash-flow in the Argentine Central Bank’s coffers, although that could change in 2016.
Argentine opposition candidate Mauricio Macri accused the ruling party of fear mongering after a weekend barrage of online attack ads warned he would throw people off welfare and reduce living standards by devaluing the currency. The same kind of spots were reiterated during the final match of the Argentine football league.
Following claims of 'friendly fire', cracks are clearly surfacing in the Argentine ruling coalition strategy to conquer lost ground in the 25 October presidential vote which has forced a runoff on 22 November. Daniel Scioli was expected to beat his runner up by almost ten votes, but this did not happen, in effect Mauricio Macri was defeated by a mere 2.5 percentage points and his PRO party won the governorship of the strategic Buenos Aires province, Argentina's main electoral district.
The first public opinion poll released since Argentina's Sunday presidential election and ahead of the 22 November runoff indicates that the opposition candidate Mauricio Macri is a few points ahead of incumbent Daniel Scioli in a tight race but still with a large percentage who remain undecided.
On Sunday 35% of Argentines voted for continuity of Kirchnerism and 65% voted for a political change, and between the two options, change overwhelmingly won, said Sergio Massa, the third ranked candidate who with his 21% has become kingmaker between the two presidential hopefuls for the November runoff, incumbent Daniel Scioli and market friendly opposition, Mauricio Macri.