1989 Argentine general election

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.

1989 Argentine general election
Presidential election
14 May 1989
600 members of the Electoral College
301 votes needed to win
Registered20,034,252
Turnout85.31%
 
Nominee Carlos Menem Eduardo Angeloz Álvaro Alsogaray
Party PJ UCR UCeDe
Alliance FREJUPO UCR + CFI Center Alliance
Home state La Rioja Córdoba Santa Fe
Running mate Eduardo Duhalde Juan Manuel Casella/
María C. Guzmán		 Alberto Natale
Electoral vote 312 234 33
States carried 20 3 + CABA 0
Popular vote 7,957,518 6,213,217 1,200,172
Percentage 47.51% 37.10% 7.17%
Most voted party by province
President before election

Raúl Alfonsín
UCR

 Elected President

Carlos Menem
PJ

Legislative election
14 May 1989
127 of 254 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
Turnout85.31%
Party Leader % Seats ±
Chamber of Deputies
Justicialist Party 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.
Results by province

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 Trotskyite 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 U.S. dollar gained around 40% against the austral 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 dollar doubled in value that 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		 Party Popular vote Electoral vote
Votes % Votes %
Carlos Menem Eduardo Duhalde Total Menem - Duhalde 7,957,518 47.51 312 52.00
Justicialist Front of Popular Unity (FREJUPO) 7,841,028 46.81 305 50.83
Renewal Current 113,163 0.68 7 1.17
Labor and People's Party (PTP) 2,770 0.02
Integration and Development Movement (MID) 557 0.00
Eduardo Angeloz Juan Manuel Casella Total Angeloz - Casella 5,434,049 32.44 213 35.50
Radical Civic Union (UCR) 5,162,574 30.82 198 33.00
UCR - Independent Federalist Confederation 220,505 1.32 9 1.50
UCR - Mobilization - Catamarca Popular Movement 50,970 0.30 6 1.00
Álvaro Alsogaray Alberto Natale Total Alsogaray - Natale 1,200,172 7.17 33 6.50
Center Alliance 1,042,984 6.23 28 4.67
Autonomist - Liberal - PDP - Popular Liberation Movement 106,774 0.64 5 0.83
Union of the Democratic Centre (UCeDe) 49,767 0.30
Democratic Progressive Party (PDP) 647 0.00
Eduardo Angeloz María Cristina Guzmán Total Angeloz - Guzmán 779,168 4.66 21 3.50
Independent Federalist Confederation (CFI) 675,101 4.03 21 3.50
Independent Federalist Confederation - Federal Party 93,013 0.56
Federal Party (PF) 11,054 0.07
Néstor Vicente Luis Zamora United Left (IU) 409,250 2.44 1 0.17
José Corzo Gómez Federico Houssay Retirees Target Party (PBJ) 315,600 1.88 7 1.17
Guillermo Estévez Boero Alfredo Bravo Total Estévez Boero - Bravo 240,132 1.43
Socialist Unity (US) 218,950 1.31
Popular Socialist Party (PSP) 15,836 0.09
Socialist Party (PS) 3,600 0.02
Democratic Socialist Party (PSD) 1,746 0.01
Antonio Domingo Bussi Antonio Álvarez Republican Force (FR) 185,036 1.10 7 1.17
Jorge Altamira Gregorio Flores Workers' Party (PO) 45,763 0.27
Luis Alberto Ammann Lía Méndez Humanist - Green Front 42,316 0.25
Without candidates Neuquén People's Movement (MPN) 35,466 0.21 4 0.67
Blockist Alliance 27,004 0.16 1 0.17
Chaco Action (ACHA) 19,831 0.12 1 0.17
Renewal Crusade (CR) 11,236 0.07
Ángel Bustelo Eduardo Hernández Total Bustelo - Hernández 10,157 0.06
Popular Action 4,773 0.03
Liberation Socialist Workers' Party (PSOL) 2,715 0.02
Anti-Imperialist Popular Democratic Movement (MODEPA) 1,345 0.01
Popular Accord 1,324 0.01
Without candidates Renewal Unit Movement (MUR) 7,661 0.05
Blue, Loyalty, Restoration 7,287 0.04
Independence Party 4,083 0.02
Democratic Party of Jujuy 2,487 0.01
Retirees Party 2,340 0.01
Liberal Democratic Party - Provincial Popular Movement 2,327 0.01
Mario Hugo Geller Elisa Delboy Liberation Party 1,851 0.01
Without candidates Renewal Front 1,281 0.01
Tradition and Coherence 1,181 0.01
Social Justice 1,147 0.01
Autonomist Union Front 973 0.01
Provincial Union 966 0.01
Provincial Action 838 0.01
Provincial Defense - White Flag 651 0.00
Fueguino People's Movement (MOPOF) 472 0.00
Nationalist Movement 245 0.00
Populist Unification 243 0.00
Authentic Socialist Party (PSA) 216 0.00
Authentic Formosa Party 181 0.00
Total 16,749,128 100
Positive votes 16,749,128 98.00
Blank votes 222,048 1.30
Invalid votes 116,049 0.68
Tally sheet differences 4,395 0.02
Total votes 17,091,620 100
Registered voters/turnout 20,034,252 85.31
Sources:[2][3]

Chamber of Deputies
Party Votes % Seats won Total seats
Justicialist Front of Popular Unity (FREJUPO) 7,460,488 44.82 66 127
Radical Civic Union (UCR) 4,865,835 29.23 42 93
Center Alliance 1,796,271 10.79 10 18
Independent Federalist Confederation (CFI) 565,080 3.39 3 5
United Left (IU) 580,943 3.49 1 1
Socialist Unity (US) 451,177 2.71 — 1
Retirees Target Party (PBJ) 301,101 1.81 1 1
Republican Force (FR) 213,957 1.29 2 2
Renewal Crusade (CR) 87,273 0.52 1 1
Workers' Party (PO) 53,671 0.32 — —
Humanist - Green Front 49,491 0.30 — —
Neuquén People's Movement (MPN) 49,070 0.29 1 2
Chaco Action (ACHA) 45,298 0.27 — —
Blockist Alliance 39,171 0.24 — 1
Río Negro Provincial Party (PPR) 22,331 0.13 — 1
Renewal Unit Movement (MUR) 9,027 0.05 — —
Blue, Loyalty, Restoration 7,638 0.05 — —
Liberal Democratic Party - Provincial Popular Movement 7,359 0.04 — —
Social Justice 5,878 0.04 — —
Renewal Front 4,770 0.03 — —
Independence Party 4,749 0.03 — —
Popular Accord 9,549 0.06 — —
Democratic Party of Jujuy 2,544 0.02 — —
Fueguino People's Movement (MOPOF) 2,309 0.01 — —
Liberation Party (PL) 1,944 0.01 — —
Christian Democratic Party (PDC) 1,831 0.01 — —
Authentic Socialist Party (PSA) 1,666 0.01 — —
Tradition and Coherence 1,426 0.01 — —
Autonomist Union Front 1,149 0.01 — —
Provincial Union 1,002 0.01 — —
Provincial Defense - White Flag (DP-BB) 816 0.00 — 1
Nationalist Movement 418 0.00 — —
Authentic Formosa Party 246 0.00 — —
Emancipatory Front 38 0.00 — —
Total 16,645,516 100 127 254
Positive votes 16,645,516 97.39
Blank votes 307,578 1.80
Invalid votes 99,482 0.58
Tally sheet differences 39,544 0.23
Total votes 17,092,120 100
Registered voters/turnout 20,034,252 85.31
Sources:[4][3]

Notes
  1. Todo Argentina
  2. "Recorriendo las Elecciones de 1983 a 2013 - Presidenciales". Dirección Nacional Electoral.
  3. "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.
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