BUENOS AIRES : Menem Feels Poll Heat
Argentine President Carlos Menem, whose party changed the country’s constitution last year so he could seek reelection, faces the possibility of a runoff after Sunday’s first round of voting.
A surprising poll result shows Menem, first elected in 1989, leading with 41.6% of the vote while main rival Jose Bordon, a former member of Menem’s Peronist Party, holds 34.7%.
Bordon, a senator, has been gaining ground at Menem’s expense in the major cities. Polls show the 49-year-old legislator leading in the capital, Buenos Aires, and in Rosario, the country’s second-largest city.
Analysts had predicted that Menem, 64, would easily maintain a 10-point lead in the polls and win another four-year term in the first round, largely because of his success in rescuing the nation from hyper-inflation. However, while inflation has dipped to single digits annually, unemployment has doubled during Menem’s tenure to 13%.
Menem’s campaign has also been hurt by recent admissions of atrocities committed by the military during the country’s 1976-83 “dirty war” under military rule. Menem pardoned the commanders of the dictatorship in 1990.
More to Read
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.