Power Play

The results are in...the ruling party run by the Kirchners fell in the largest districts and lost control of the lower house. Coinciding with polls that forecast a strong opposition to the incumbent, the election results have led to a change in balance of power in the legislature.

So what does this signify for the history of the country? Remember, this was only a mid-term election for half of the lower house of Congress and a third of senate. However, much more was at stake: the power and permanence of the first couple, Cristina Fernández and Néstor Kirchner, her husband and predecessor as president. Néstor put himself up for election in the lower house, which made what was a routine election into a referendum on the first couple and their ideology of state-led economic nationalism. The election, thus was an opportunity for Argentina, to pull the brakes on the first couple from continuing to lead the country down a path of decline. With these results, the nation has said no more to the Kirchners, but only time will tell if these election results will resolve any ills in Argentina's government and economy.

Yesterday, we went to go check out a voting station near where we live. All stations were in schools and universities in the area. Usually Sundays are quite here, but yesterday the streets were bustling with people going and coming from voting. Pramod asked our host mom about her opinions on Argentinean politics. She said that Argentina used to be one of the richest countries but for the 70 years she has been alive, there has been bad government that has destroyed the country's economy. Instead of blaming the country's poor state on leaders and institutions, she said that if this was the government's problem, then we would have had maybe a few years of poor government, but 70 years of bad government signals that this is the people's fault. Voting for poor leaders time and time again. Of course, bribes and threats from the powerful (which is common here, especially in the provincial towns) could be a major underlying factor that led to poor voting by the people. However, it is an interesting point of view.