1989 Argentine general election

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1989 Argentine general election
Flag of Argentina.svg
Presidential election
  1983 14 May 1989 1995  

600 members of the Electoral College
301 votes needed to win
Registered20,034,252
Turnout85.31%
  Foto de campana Menem 1989.png Foto de campana Angeloz 1989.png Alvaro Alsogaray 1989.png
Nominee Carlos Menem Eduardo Angeloz Álvaro Alsogaray
Party PJ UCR UCeDe
Alliance FREJUPO UCR + CFI Center Alliance
Running mate Eduardo Duhalde Juan Manuel Casella/
María C. Guzmán
Alberto Natale
Electoral vote31223433
States carried203 + CABA 0
Popular vote7,957,5186,213,2171,200,172
Percentage47.51%37.10%7.17%

Elecciones presidenciales de Argentina 1989 (porcentaje por provincia).svg Elecciones presidenciales de Argentina 1989 (colegio electoral).svg
Percentage of votes (left) and electoral votes (right) by province.

President before election

Raúl Alfonsín
UCR

Elected President

Carlos Menem
PJ

Legislative election
  1987 14 May 1989 1991  

127 of 254 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
Turnout85.31%
PartyVote %Seats+/–
Chamber of Deputies
Justicialist Front of Popular Unity 44.82%66+5
Radical Civic Union 29.23%42−9
Center Alliance 10.79%10+2
Independent Federalist Confederation 3.39%3+1
United Left 3.49%1+1
Socialist Unity 2.71%0−1
Others 5.67%5+1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Mapa de las elecciones legislativas de Argentina de 1989.png
Results by province

The Argentine general election of 1989 was held on 14 May 1989. Voters chose both the President and their legislators and with a turnout of 85.3%, Carlos Menem won the presidency, and the Peronist Justicialist Party won the control of both houses of Congress. This is the last presidential election the president was elected by the electoral college.

Contents

Background

Inheriting a difficult legacy from his military predecessors, President Raúl Alfonsín's tenure had been practically defined by the foreign debt Argentina's last dictatorship left behind. Signs of unraveling in Alfonsín's 1985 Austral Plan for economic stabilization cost his centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR) its majorities in the Chamber of Deputies (lower house of Congress) and among the nation's 22 governorships in the September 1987 mid-term elections. Facing a restive armed forces opposed to trials against past human rights abuses and mounting inflation, the president brought elections forward five months, now scheduled for May 14, 1989. Both major parties held national conventions in May 1988. The UCR nominated Córdoba Governor Eduardo Angeloz, a safe, centrist choice and the most prominent UCR figure not closely tied to the unpopular President Alfonsín. In an upset, however, Carlos Menem, governor of the remote and thinly populated La Rioja Province, wrested the Justicialist Party nomination from the odds-on candidate, Buenos Aires Province Governor Antonio Cafiero, a policy maker close to the Justicialists' founder, the late Juan Perón. Cafiero's defeat resulted largely from CGT trade union opposition to his Peronist Renewal faction; Alfonsín's top political adviser, Interior Minister Enrique Nosiglia, in turn saw Menem's flamboyance as an opportunity for the struggling UCR.

The Justicialists (Peronists) took a sizable lead in polling early on, however, even as nearly half the voters remained undecided. Hoping to translate this into a UCR victory over the outspoken and eccentric Menem, President Alfonsín enacted an August 1988 "Springtime Plan" in a bid for lower inflation (then running at 27% monthly). The plan, criticized as a rehashed "Austral Plan" by the CGT, called for budget cuts and renewed wage freezes - policies they blamed for sliding living standards. Initially successful, a record drought late in the year buffeted critical export earnings and led to rolling blackouts, dissipating any gains Angeloz might have made from the "relief" of 6% monthly inflation.

A perennial third-party candidate, conservative economist Álvaro Alsogaray, made gains following the January 1989 assault by Trotskyist militants on the La Tablada Barracks, west of Buenos Aires. Twice minister of the economy and remembered for his belief that the economy must go through "winter," the unpopular Alsogaray ran on a free market platform, calling for mass privatizations and deep cuts in social spending (amid 30% poverty). Angeloz took the controversial decision of including social spending cuts in the UCR platform, as well, earning the right-wing Federal Party's endorsement; but alienating many others (particularly pensioners, among whom Alfonsín had won decisively in 1983). The largely civil campaign became increasingly a debate between the Justicialist nominee and the president, himself; Angeloz, the UCR nominee, remained "presidential" during the frequent exchanges of innuendo between Alfonsín and Menem.

Following a sharp drop in Central Bank reserves, the austral fell around 29% to the U.S. dollar in heavy trading on "black Tuesday," February 7. The sudden drop in the austral's value threatened the nation's tenuous financial stability and, later that month, the World Bank recalled a large tranche of a loan package agreed on in 1988, sending the austral into a tailspin: trading at 17 to the dollar in January, the dollar quoted at over 100 australes by election day, May 14. Inflation, which had been held to the 5-10% monthly range as late as February, rose to 78.5% in May, shattering records and leading to a landslide victory for the Peronists. Polling revealed that economic anxieties were paramount among two-thirds of voters and Menem won in 19 of 22 provinces, while losing in the traditionally anti-Peronist Federal District (Buenos Aires).

The nation's finances did not stabilize after the election, as hoped. The austral halved to the dollar next week, alone, and on May 29, riots broke out in the poorer outskirts of a number of cities. Having declared his intention to stay on until inaugural day, December 10, these events and spiraling financial chaos led Alfonsín to transfer power to President-elect Menem five months early, on July 8. When Menem accepted the presidential sash from Alfonsín, it marked the first time since 1916 that an incumbent government peacefully transferred power to the opposition. [1]

Candidates for presidency

Results

President

Presidential
candidate
Vice Presidential
candidate
PartyPopular voteElectoral vote
Votes%Votes%
Carlos Menem Eduardo Duhalde Total Menem - Duhalde7,957,51847.5131252.00
Justicialist Front of Popular Unity (FREJUPO)7,841,02846.8130550.83
Renewal Current113,1630.6871.17
Labor and People's Party (PTP)2,7700.02
Integration and Development Movement (MID)5570.00
Eduardo Angeloz Juan Manuel CasellaTotal Angeloz - Casella5,434,04932.4421335.50
Radical Civic Union (UCR)5,162,57430.8219833.00
UCR - Independent Federalist Confederation220,5051.3291.50
UCR - Mobilization - Catamarca Popular Movement 50,9700.3061.00
Álvaro Alsogaray Alberto NataleTotal Alsogaray - Natale1,200,1727.17336.50
Center Alliance1,042,9846.23284.67
Autonomist - Liberal - PDP - Popular Liberation Movement106,7740.6450.83
Union of the Democratic Centre (UCeDe)49,7670.30
Democratic Progressive Party (PDP)6470.00
Eduardo Angeloz María Cristina GuzmánTotal Angeloz - Guzmán779,1684.66213.50
Independent Federalist Confederation (CFI)675,1014.03213.50
Independent Federalist Confederation - Federal Party 93,0130.56
Federal Party (PF)11,0540.07
Néstor Vicente Luis Zamora United Left (IU)409,2502.4410.17
José Corzo GómezFederico HoussayRetirees Target Party (PBJ)315,6001.8871.17
Guillermo Estévez Boero Alfredo Bravo Total Estévez Boero - Bravo240,1321.43
Socialist Unity (US)218,9501.31
Popular Socialist Party (PSP)15,8360.09
Socialist Party (PS)3,6000.02
Democratic Socialist Party (PSD)1,7460.01
Antonio Domingo Bussi Antonio Álvarez Republican Force (FR)185,0361.1071.17
Jorge Altamira Gregorio Flores Workers' Party (PO)45,7630.27
Luis Alberto AmmannLía Méndez Humanist - Green Front42,3160.25
No candidates Neuquén People's Movement (MPN)35,4660.2140.67
Blockist Alliance27,0040.1610.17
Chaco Action (ACHA)19,8310.1210.17
Renewal Crusade (CR)11,2360.07
Ángel BusteloEduardo HernándezTotal Bustelo - Hernández10,1570.06
Popular Action4,7730.03
Liberation Socialist Workers' Party (PSOL)2,7150.02
Anti-Imperialist Popular Democratic Movement (MODEPA)1,3450.01
Popular Accord1,3240.01
No candidatesRenewal Unit Movement (MUR)7,6610.05
Blue, Loyalty, Restoration7,2870.04
Independence Party4,0830.02
Democratic Party of Jujuy2,4870.01
Retirees Party2,3400.01
Liberal Democratic Party - Provincial Popular Movement2,3270.01
Mario Hugo GellerElisa Delboy Liberation Party 1,8510.01
No candidatesRenewal Front1,2810.01
Tradition and Coherence1,1810.01
Social Justice1,1470.01
Autonomist Union Front9730.01
Provincial Union9660.01
Provincial Action8380.01
Provincial Defense - White Flag6510.00
Fuegian People's Movement (MOPOF)4720.00
Nationalist Movement2450.00
Populist Unification2430.00
Authentic Socialist Party (PSA)2160.00
Authentic Formosa Party1810.00
Total16,749,128100
Positive votes16,749,12898.00
Blank votes222,0481.30
Invalid votes116,0490.68
Tally sheet differences4,3950.02
Total votes17,091,620100
Registered voters/turnout20,034,25285.31
Sources: [2] [3]

Chamber of Deputies

PartyVotes%Seats wonTotal seats
Justicialist Front of Popular Unity (FREJUPO)7,460,48844.8266127
Radical Civic Union (UCR)4,865,83529.234293
Center Alliance 1,796,27110.791018
Independent Federalist Confederation (CFI)565,0803.3935
United Left (IU)580,9433.4911
Socialist Unity (US)451,1772.711
Retirees Target Party (PBJ)301,1011.8111
Republican Force (FR)213,9571.2922
Renewal Crusade (CR)87,2730.5211
Workers' Party (PO)53,6710.32
Humanist - Green Front49,4910.30
Neuquén People's Movement (MPN)49,0700.2912
Chaco Action (ACHA)45,2980.27
Blockist Alliance39,1710.241
Río Negro Provincial Party (PPR)22,3310.131
Renewal Unit Movement (MUR)9,0270.05
Blue, Loyalty, Restoration7,6380.05
Liberal Democratic Party - Provincial Popular Movement7,3590.04
Social Justice5,8780.04
Renewal Front4,7700.03
Independence Party4,7490.03
Popular Accord9,5490.06
Democratic Party of Jujuy2,5440.02
Fuegian People's Movement (MOPOF)2,3090.01
Liberation Party (PL)1,9440.01
Christian Democratic Party (PDC)1,8310.01
Authentic Socialist Party (PSA)1,6660.01
Tradition and Coherence1,4260.01
Autonomist Union Front1,1490.01
Provincial Union1,0020.01
Provincial Defense - White Flag (DP-BB)8160.001
Nationalist Movement4180.00
Authentic Formosa Party2460.00
Emancipatory Front380.00
Total16,645,516100127254
Positive votes16,645,51697.39
Blank votes307,5781.80
Invalid votes99,4820.58
Tally sheet differences39,5440.23
Total votes17,092,120100
Registered voters/turnout20,034,25285.31
Sources: [4] [3]

Results by province

ProvinceFREJUPOUCRCenter AllianceCFIOthers
Votes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Buenos Aires 3,042,08048.37191,655,59126.3210630,16310.024190,4453.03770,82812.252
Buenos Aires City 641,76731.515580,19728.494449,82222.093146,5407.191218,39210.73
Catamarca 68,09854.23251,28540.8411,2571.004,9243.92
Chaco 190,60549.172133,98634.5626,7131.731,6510.4354,68514.10
Chubut 54,58338.48139,81528.0719,6816.8225,51617.9912,2578.64
Córdoba 664,85843.374669,33843.675120,7597.8877,9055.08
Corrientes 120,80732.58189,79824.221151,61340.8913,3710.915,1841.40
Entre Ríos 283,51750.493208,63437.15246,8648.3422,5674.02
Formosa 93,94958.46163,15539.3012,0001.241,5890.99
Jujuy 84,26641.75231,68715.702,7341.3541,72420.67141,40720.52
La Pampa 73,41351.11253,14437.0017,4885.212,7991.956,8024.73
La Rioja 69,06267.14229,40628.591,3151.28160.023,0622.97
Mendoza 291,67342.042203,39229.312141,23720.3613,4940.5054,0487.79
Misiones 162,36152.212115,40137.11120,0806.467,1582.305,9651.92
Neuquén 54,34736.47135,60023.8914,8153.2354,27636.421
Río Negro 85,12942.95171,96836.3119,7994.9431,32215.80
Salta 154,11642.66191,22525.2517,6472.1288,29424.44120,0055.54
San Juan 64,74024.47148,17418.21118,7497.09132,85750.231
San Luis 66,33748.34252,56438.3015,2013.7913,1299.57
Santa Cruz 32,93352.94223,96438.5213,1024.992,2073.55
Santa Fe 740,53848.015438,26828.413144,3939.36114,4940.94204,83413.28
Santiago del Estero 195,47165.49287,92029.4612,3940.803,2191.089,4693.17
Tierra del Fuego 10,98939.5118,44430.3612,0237.273181.146,03921.72
Tucumán 214,84939.47282,87915.236,4221.1836,0416.62204,08937.502
Total7,460,48844.82664,865,83529.23421,796,27110.7910565,0803.3931,957,84211.776

Notes

  1. Todo Argentina
  2. "Recorriendo las Elecciones de 1983 a 2013 - Presidenciales". Dirección Nacional Electoral. Archived from the original on 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  3. 1 2 "Elecciones Nacionales ESCRUTINIO DEFINITIVO 1989" (PDF). Ministry of the Interior. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2018.
  4. "Recorriendo las Elecciones de 1983 a 2013 - Diputados Nacionales". Dirección Nacional Electoral. Archived from the original on 2019-09-17. Retrieved 2020-12-16.