1991 Argentine legislative election

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1991 Argentine legislative election
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  1989 11 August 1991 to 1 December 1991 1993  

130 of 257 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
Turnout80.41%
PartyVote %Seats+/–
Chamber of Deputies
Justicialist Party 40.81%63−4
Radical Civic Union 28.86%43+1
Union of the Democratic Centre 6.24%5−2
Socialist - Intransigent - Humanist 5.63%3+3
Movement for Dignity and Independence 3.45%3+3
Independent Federalist Confederation 3.12%30
Others 11.85%10+2
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Mapa de las elecciones legislativas de Argentina de 1991.png
Results by province

The Argentine legislative elections of 1991 were held on four dates, 11 August, 8 September, 27 October and 1 December, though most polls took place on 8 September. Voters chose their legislators and governors and, with a turnout of 80%.

Contents

Background

Amid sudden hyperinflation and riots, Governor Carlos Menem exhorted voters in May 1989 that "following me will not disappoint you!" Elected in a landslide, his administration had a rocky start marked by an early stabilization plan that had failed by December and a series of corruption scandals surrounding his freewheeling in-laws. After a tentative stability had been achieved by the end of 1990, a new currency crisis in January 1991 led President Menem to transfer his Foreign Minister, Domingo Cavallo, to the Economics Ministry. Cavallo, an unorthodox economist remembered for having rescinded the Central Bank's hated Circular 1050 and its crushing interest rate surcharges during a stint as Central Bank President in 1982, was entrusted to bring stability to Argentina's shredded currency, the austral, and to begin the repair of Argentina's nearly non-existent relations with its foreign creditors (owed arrears on billions of debt since 1988) and the country's own sizable upper class (who held well over US$50 billion in assets abroad). [1] [2]

Backed partly by a then-record US$8 billion trade surplus in 1990 and partly by the assumption that Menem's free-market policies would encourage a wave of foreign direct investment, Cavallo's Convertibility Plan tied the Argentine currency to the U.S. dollar, leading a sharp drop in local interest rates and to a recovery in local deposits, lending and the depressed economy soon after the plan's March 27, 1991, introduction. Currency stability led particularly to lower inflation, which fell from 1,350% in 1990 to 84% in 1991; prices rose 1.3% in the month of August (the best showing since 1974) and the hitherto unpopular Menem saw his approval soar. Menem's turn against time-honored Justicialist Party tenets such as the support of labor laws and the encouragement of State enterprises (policies defined in the 1940s by the party's very founder, Juan Perón), led some in his party to run on splinter Peronist tickets, which did well - but came far from seriously challenging the official party ticket. [3]

Menem's contentious divorce from his wife of 25 years, Zulema Yoma, reports of massive corruption surrounding his in-laws and the resignation under indictment of his Public Works Minister and privatizations guru, Roberto Dromi, could not overshadow the improving economic climate among the electorate at large. The Justicialist Party's victory in the 1991 mid-term elections was not so much absolute as it was relative: the party made no inroads into their large majorities in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies or among the nation's governors; indeed, they lost 3 of their 17 governors elected in 1987. They did, however, increase their difference over the UCR, whose leader, former President Raúl Alfonsín, resigned amid scorn over the shadow his chaotic 1983–89 tenure seemed to cast over these polls. The UCR, in two upsets, wrested governorships in Catamarca and Chubut Provinces, however. The paramount Buenos Aires Province gave Vice-President Eduardo Duhalde a 2-to-1 victory over the UCR's gray eminence, former Economy Minister Juan Carlos Pugliese; in the Greater Buenos Aires area, on the other hand, one-time mutineer Col. Aldo Rico was able to translate voters' anger in the over rising illegal immigration and crime rates into an unexpected 3 seats in Congress for his far-right MODIN. These elections helped consolidate the scandal-plagued Menem's tenuous grasp on the presidency, making them (in his words) "the day Menemism was born." [2] [4]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats wonTotal seats
Justicialist Party (PJ)6,418,22640.8163130
Radical Civic Union (UCR)4,539,96728.864385
Union of the Democratic Centre (UCEDE)981,6116.24512
Socialist Party - Intransigent Party - Humanist Party 885,0575.6333
Movement for Dignity and Independence (MODIN)543,3753.4533
Independent Federalist Confederation (CFI)490,0993.1236
United Left (IU)341,8642.171
Republican Force (FR)282,4781.8024
Autonomist - Liberal - Democratic Progressive 167,2761.0623
Popular Action for Liberation138,5290.88
Democratic Progressive Party (PDP)133,1880.8512
Democratic Party of Mendoza (PD)100,1010.641
Neuquén People's Movement (MPN)80,6480.5112
Renewal Crusade (CR)77,4250.4912
Blockist Alliance74,6030.4711
Workers' Party (PO)59,7310.38
Christian Democratic Party (PDC)58,8300.37
Labor and People's Party (PTP)60,2320.38
Authentic Formosa Party30,3510.19
Integration and Development Movement (MID)26,5520.17
Independent Call24,0890.15
Neighborhood Party23,0750.15
Constitutional Nationalist Party (PNC)22,0730.14
Popular Union (UP)17,9470.11
Corrientes Action14,0890.09
Renewal Party of the Province13,3620.08
Chubut Action Party (PACH)11,5720.07
Río Negro Provincial Party (PPR)11,4440.07
Popular Action Movement11,1630.07
Fuegian People's Movement (MOPOF)9,7040.0622
Patriotic Liberation Movement7,2110.05
Democratic Party of Buenos Aires City6,3750.04
Santa Cruz Popular Movement6,2700.04
Three Flags Renewal Party6,0590.04
Call for the Reunion4,6540.03
Buenos Aires Popular Movement4,2370.03
Democratic Movement of Participation4,1780.03
Republican Social Party3,9190.02
Labor Party of Tucumán3,6510.02
Center Party3,5870.02
White Party3,1910.02
Popular Action2,9400.02
Social Justice2,8680.02
Formosa Action - Formosa Integrative Force2,5960.02
Middle Generation Party2,4930.02
Provincial Action Front (FAP)2,1580.01
Liberal Democratic Party (PDL)2,0190.01
Labor and Solidarity Front1,7760.01
La Pampa Federalist Movement (MOFEPA)1,5720.01
Free Homeland1,2850.01
Autonomist Party1,1210.01
Provincial Popular Movement1,0610.01
Change and Justice9520.01
Provincial Defense - White Flag (DP-BB)6560.00
Independence Party6300.00
Loyalty and Social Justice6050.00
Open Call for the Bases4690.00
Three Flags Party4540.00
People's Democracy - Social Front1490.00
Nationalist Movement1040.00
Total15,728,688100130257
Positive votes15,728,68893.97
Blank votes834,4074.98
Invalid votes127,3230.76
Tally sheet differences48,0850.29
Total votes16,738,503100
Registered voters/turnout20,817,03980.41
Sources: [5] [6]

References

  1. National Geographic Magazine. August 1986.
  2. 1 2 Todo Argentina: Carlos Menem's first term (in Spanish)
  3. Todo Argentina: 1991 (in Spanish)
  4. Notícias. 14 September 1991.
  5. "Elecciones Nacionales ESCRUTINIO DEFINITIVO 1991" (PDF). Ministry of the Interior. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2018.
  6. "Recorriendo las Elecciones de 1983 a 2013". Dirección Nacional Electoral. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.