TRANSCRIPT
Argentina's national primary election won’t only determine who will be competing to be the country’s next president.
It could also affect the economy in the coming months amid expectation to see how a far-right, anti-establishment candidate will fare.
The centre-left government, following the ideas of 1950s President Juan Peron, has overseen galloping annual inflation of more than 100%, rising poverty and a rapidly depreciating currency that has decimated the real value of pensions and salaries.
Argentines like Gustavo Noriego are far from happy.
"Today we need a change, not only of concepts, we need a change of criteria, a radical change that can make us take off as the country we were at some point in the past. We have everything, and yet we have nothing."
Analysts believe Argentines' disillusionment with the Peronist coalition and the conservative opposition Together for Change has opened the door for a potential surprise win by a far-right libertarian, Javier Milei.
He's an admirer of former United States President Donald Trump who shot up in opinion polls thanks to his lengthy diatribes against the ruling class.
He has found followers among those who are tired of 'politics as usual' and is particularly popular among the young.
Milei remains unlikely to win the general election, but has turned it into a three-way race, challenging the ruling Peronist coalition and the main conservative opposition grouping Together for Change.
“This is why we are confronting the political establishment face-to-face to kick them out."
The key contest will play out in the main right-leaning opposition coalition, Joint for Change, in which Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta faces former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich to determine who will be at the top of their ticket in October.
Lawyer Maria Kohlhuber says, however, support for Peronist policies remains strong.
“If Larreta wins, I'll support him, and I think that 'Joint for Change,' that and also I like some things from Milei. They can build something in this country, twenty years from now. I do not see imminent progress, there is a lot of poverty, with social plans the crisis won't be solved, you have to create jobs. But they have to be able to rule, and in this country if you are not a Peronist you will not be able to do so.”
The primary is obligatory for most adults, and each person gets one vote.
However, in the capital, Buenos Aires, the new voting system was met with less than universal approval.
"The new voting system (in Buenos Aires) was difficult. We didn't know how to do it. I don't think the people at the polling station understood very well how it worked. You have to go first to one place to get the presidential ballot, and then you have to get another ballot for the electronic ballot. It was a mess, so I think it will take a lot of time for the rest of the people to vote."
Incumbent president Alberto Fernández, despite being eligible for a second term, has announced he will not seek re-election.
Economy Minister Sergio Massa, is leading the race to replace Mr Fernandez as the candidate for the governing Peronist coalition.
The results of this primary election will be a good indicator of who is likely to take the reins of government and tackle the troubled economy.
