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Macri narrowly wins Argentina's presidential election

Macri narrowly defeated Daniel Scioli, by 51.4 percent of the vote to 48.5 percent.

By Ed Adamczyk
Mauricio Macri, center, won Argentina's presidential runoff election on November 22, 2015. Photo by Maria Ines Ghiglione/City of Buenos Aires
Mauricio Macri, center, won Argentina's presidential runoff election on November 22, 2015. Photo by Maria Ines Ghiglione/City of Buenos Aires

BUENOS AIRES, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Conservative Mauricio Macri won Argentina's presidential election, signaling a swing toward economic reform and a pro-business approach.

Macri, 56, Buenos Aires mayor and former president of Argentina's popular Boca Juniors soccer team, defeated Daniel Scioli, a member of the Peronist Party by 51.4 percent to 48.5 percent of the popular vote. The Peronist Part had led Argentina for 12 years.

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During the campaign, Macri promised an overhaul of the economy and tolerance of differing social views, two issues which doomed the ruling party of outgoing President Christina Kirchner. Argentina's rising inflation and sluggish rate of private investment, and Kirchner's attacks of critics, led to voter disenchantment and the rise of Macri, who lost to Scioli in the first round of voting.

Since no candidate won an outright majority, the country's first runoff election was held Sunday.

The voter split indicates the polarization of the electorate, with middle-class voters supporting Macri's reforms and those of the working class hoping government programs are not cut.

Macri has pledged not to roll back popular social programs which include cash subsidies for the poor. But he has been regarded as a business-friendly candidate, and economic reform will likely be his primary goal.

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The son of one of Argentina's richest men, Macri had a long business career before entering politics. In 1991 he survived a 12-day kidnapping by a group of corrupt policemen demanding millions in ransom, and used his visibility as Boca Juniors president to begin his political career.

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