In the presidential election in Argentina, the opposition candidate Alberto Fernández is clearly ahead after first results. After counting in more than 80 percent of the polling stations, the center-left politician came to a good 47 percent of the vote. The conservative incumbent Mauricio Macri was just under 41 percent, as emerged on Sunday evening from numbers of the electoral authority.
The result was therefore a bit shorter, as surveys had expected it. Should Fernández receive at least 45 percent of the votes, there would be no runoff. Voter turnout was around 81 percent.
The result would also mean that Macris' direct predecessor, Cristina Kirchner, will return to the government as Vice President. She was president from 2007 to 2015. Kirchner is facing several charges of corruption charges. She is currently a senator and therefore enjoys immunity.
Juan Ignacio Roncoroni / EPA-EFE / REX
Alberto Fernández and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner at a campaign event
Fernández is considered moderate and is not burdened by corruption allegations. He served as chief of cabinet during the four-year presidency of Kirchner's husband, the late Néstor Kirchner (read more about Alberto Fernández).
How the stock exchanges react to a possible vice-president Kirchner
Fernández had already clearly beaten Macri in the primaries in August: The center-left candidate had received nearly 48 percent of the vote. Macri, the conservative businessman and former prime minister of the capital, had only come to 32 percent.
Argentina faces a serious economic and financial crisis, although the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted the South American country a stand-by credit of 57 billion US dollars last year. The inflation rate is more than 50 percent - in the past year alone, 3.4 million Argentines slipped into poverty, according to the statistics office.
On the stock markets, a possible election victory Fernández had unsettled investors - even the national currency Peso had repeatedly sharply devalued. The shareholders apparently feared Kirchner's return to power. The ex-president stands for a protectionist economic policy.
