Mauricio Macri vows new era as Argentine president

Argentina's conservative president-elect Mauricio Macri said a "marvelous" new era was starting for the country after he won a runoff election on Sunday.

Opposition candidate Macri, of the conservative Cambiemos (Let's Change) Party, won Argentina's presidential election on Sunday, marking an end to the left-leaning era of President Cristina Fernandez, who along with her late husband dominated the country's political scene for 12 years.

Ruling party candidate Daniel Scioli, Fernandez's chosen successor, conceded late Sunday and said he had called Macri to congratulate him on the victory.

"Today is a historic day," said Macri, addressing thousands of cheering supporters as horns were heard blaring across Buenos Aires. "It's the changing of an era."

With 99.17 percent of the ballots counted, Macri won 51.4 percent of the vote in the run-off election to 48.6 percent for ruling party rival Daniel Scioli.

"This change needs to take us towards a future of opportunities so we can grow," said Macri, adding there was no room for political "vengeance" and calling on all Argentinians to work together.

"You made the impossible possible with your vote," he told supporters, and singled out "drug trafficking" as the problem Argentinians now have to "confront and defeat."

Addressing the half of the electorate that voted for the ruling party, whose social programs have over the years helped thousands of families escape poverty, Macri said his government will not abandon them.

"The neediest and many families that tonight are concerned," said Macri, adding that they have nothing to fear "because we will be by your side and you aren't going to lose any of what you have gained."

Scioli, meanwhile, conceded "change has been voted for," adding that he hoped it will be a change for the better.

The opposition's message of change appeared to have resounded with many Argentinians concerned by high inflation and a slowing economy.

The pro-business Macri has said he will lead a government that will differ from the ruling party by aligning itself more with US foreign policy and taking a more conciliatory stance towards creditors.

The presidential runoff drew a large turnout, with nearly 80 percent of the country's more than 32 million eligible voters going to the polls, according to the National Electoral Bureau.

At a press conference, Justice and Human Rights Minister Julio Alak, whose agency runs the electoral body, said the day's events had unfolded "with absolute normality, order, peace, a high-level of security, organization and supervision."

"According to preliminary estimates, participation reached 78 percent of the electoral roll," he added.

The son of an Italian-born business magnate, Macri, 56, successfully served as president of top football club Boca Juniors for 13 years before becoming deputy and later trying his hand at running the country's largest city in 2007.

In the high-profile job of the mayor of Buenos Aires, he became the face of Argentina's conservative opposition, and often clashed with the federal government. In 2011, he was reelected mayor with more than 64 percent of the votes in a runoff.

Outgoing President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who came to power in 2007, concludes her second four-year term in December. She was preceded by her husband Nestor Kirchner, who served as president from 2003.
  Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
23/11/15
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