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EXPLAINER

Massa represents the ruling establishment while Milei wants to turn the tables with radical policies.

Argentina is heading for a run-off election on Sunday, which will pit a centrist and a far-right candidate against each other in a vote that promises to have wide-ranging consequences for the South American nation.

Sergio Massa, the country’s economy minister and candidate of the ruling Union for the Homeland coalition, will face off against Javier Milei, who has grabbed headlines with his eccentric personality and radical – even controversial – promises.

Here’s what you need to know about who could become Argentina’s next president and why that matters.

Who are Massa and Milei?

The 51-year-old Massa represents the governing Peronist coalition. Based on the ideas and legacy of former president and military commander Juan Peron, the Peronist movement has been the country’s main political force for the past eight decades.

Massa is seen as a pragmatic figure within the leftist movement, which has helped him convince more moderate votes as well.

He is challenged by the 53-year-old Milei, an economist who sits at the helm of the Freedom Advances party. The far-right libertarian describes himself as an “anarcho-capitalist” and was the surprise frontrunner of the primary election in August.

Through his rhetoric and extreme promises, Milei has expressed his interest to “chainsaw” through a system that has left Argentina reeling from its worst economic crisis in decades.

Milei has drawn comparisons to right-wing leaders like former United States President Donald Trump and ex-Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. But unlike both Trump and Bolsonaro, Milei has managed to win support from youth voters.

Why a run-off?

Massa, Milei and several other candidates were on the ballot in an election in late October.

No one managed to secure the 45 percent of the vote — or 40 percent plus a 10-point lead over their closest competitor — that was required for an outright victory during the first round of voting.

Pollsters had given Milei a better chance of winning, but polls proved to be largely unreliable as they had been in some past elections. Massa came out on top with 37 percent of the votes to trump Milei’s 30 percent.

But that still wasn’t enough, so Sunday’s vote will determine the president.

What have they promised?

The economy has been at the centre of campaign promises as Argentina’s inflation is running triple digits at more than 142 percent, and the poverty rate stands at 40 percent.

Massa has rolled out welfare handouts and tax exemptions, but he will likely have to pull them back after the election in case of a victory as he contends with a sizeable budget deficit that stood at 2.4 percent of Argentina’s gross domestic product last year.

He also aims to carry on with his gradual fiscal reform policies as the country owes roughly $43bn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and $65bn to external bondholders from previously restructured debts.

Milei has taken a completely different approach, putting forward policies that almost entirely contradict those of his opponent.

He has promised to drop the national currency, the Argentine peso, and instead adopt the US dollar; “eliminate” the central bank; slash government spending by a whopping 15 percent of GDP; scale back public health expenditure; and privatise some state companies.

He has also ignored warnings by his opponent that touching subsidies for utilities could significantly increase prices, promising to remove subsidies on gas and electricity.

Milei has railed against abortion rights, questioned the role of humans in climate change and promised cultural reforms as he has presented himself as an opponent of socialism at home and abroad. His positions have also sparked concerns among Argentina’s Indigenous peoples.

What happens next?

Argentinians will head to the ballots, which will open at 8am local time (11:00 GMT) and close at 6pm, on Sunday.

The person who manages to garner the most votes will be elected to govern for a four-year term, and will take office on December 10.

Milei could still pick up momentum after he secured backing from conservative Patricia Bullrich, who finished third with 6.3 million votes or about 24 percent during the first round of voting.

Massa, meanwhile, may be able to count on Juan Schiaretti, a Peronist who is outside the main coalition, to support him. Schiaretti, however, has been critical of the economy minister in the past.

Voting is mandatory for people between 18 and 70 in the country of roughly 45 million, and optional for those between 16 and 17 and those over 70.

Mumbai and Ahmedabad, India – It is a case of not just all roads, but all rail lines, air routes – and, who knows, tunnels and teleporters – leading to Ahmedabad, where an unprecedented number of home fans are hoping to be there in the flesh to watch India take on Australia in the Cricket World Cup final.

If they can get into the ground, that is.

On the morning train from Mumbai on Saturday, packed with cricket travellers, every phone conversation seemed to carry the words, “He’s asking for too much,” or “I’ll get back to you” or “We need two more.”

One passenger showed Al Jazeera a black market ticket dealer’s asking-rates on a WhatsApp chat.

A presidential gallery ticket was listed at Rs 467,000 ($5,600), more than twice the country’s annual median per capita income.

Less fancy tickets were being traded for Rs 60,000 upwards, 20 or 30 times the printed price.

Even those with tickets in hand could scarcely contain their frustration at the shambolic rollout by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), run by Jay Shah, son of home minister Amit Shah.

There have been no declarations about what proportion of tickets have been put on public sale. Some travellers only had tickets because they knew a person at the booking portal, giving them a workaround to the endless online queues that would have likely ended in failure.

Meanwhile, rooms in leading hotels in the city are going for Rs 200,000, or $2,400 a night. Up to 200 charter flights are expected to fly in. To return to Mumbai, the nearest megalopolis, since flight and trains are sold out, people are hunting for buses to charter back at exorbitant rates.

In Ahmedabad business is picking up in the predictable sectors.

“I’ve had customers from London, Goa, Pune, Mumbai in the last few hours,” said Vijay Dave, a taxi driver.

“Cinemas that are going to show the match – even those tickets are sold out! The road outside the Indian team hotel was totally jammed this morning. Everyone had gathered there to catch a sight of the team. People have gone mad.”

There is a touch of Beatlemania around the Indian cricket team even at the worst of times. The team’s undefeated run in the competition has escalated the frenzy.

Crowds have been waiting outside stadiums for hours after the matches finish to wave the players off.

It was no different near the gates of the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday, as people congregated on streets lined with vendors selling knock-offs of the ubiquitous blue jersey for Rs 200.

Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain, was well cognisant of the expectations.

“Emotionally it’s a big thing, a big occasion, without a doubt,” he told the press on Saturday evening. “Whatever hard work and dreams you have, you have for this. And tomorrow that day will be in front of us. But see, the biggest challenge for professional athletes is how you can put all this aside and focus on their work.”

All through his press interaction he stressed that he would like to keep it “nice and easy”, “nice and relaxed and calm”, “nice and balanced”.

On the other side, the Australian captain Pat Cummins was asked: “A hundred thousand people wanting you to fail is probably something new?”

“I think you’ve got to embrace it,” he replied. “In sport there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent and that’s the aim for us tomorrow.”

If Cummins expects “a very one-sided” crowd, part of the reason is the Indian cricket board’s delays in releasing the itinerary – it was finalised a mere two months before the first game – and the subsequent ticket sagas.

Two bus-loads of Australians were spotted making a guided tour of the city, visiting spots such as the Gandhi Ashram. There won’t be too many like them.

By night the crowd of India fans outside the stadium had only grown. They were watching the drone-show rehearsal, one act in a closing ceremony that will resemble a somewhat nationalistic variety show as much as a sporting finale.

Between the toss and start of play the Indian Air Force will perform a nine-aircraft aerobatic show.

The innings break will see a mini-concert, no doubt featuring a few patriotic renditions. A stadium favourite through the competition has been “Maa Tujhe Salam” or I Salute You, Mother India.

A light-and-laser spectacle is slated for a drinks interval at night. Earlier in the tournament, the Australia batter Glenn Maxwell had complained of the disorienting effects of plunging a stadium in darkness mid-match.

“It takes me a while for my eyes to re-adjust and I just think it’s the dumbest idea for cricketers,” Maxwell had said.

In attendance will be Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as the Australia Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.

The last time Modi attended a cricket match was also in Ahmedabad, and it was a match against Australia in March.

The toss then was delayed as he rode around the outfield with the Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese in a motorised chariot to gushing television commentary, and was afterwards presented a portrait of himself in a stadium he got named after himself.

He would probably settle for presenting the trophy to the Indian captain this time around. That is something even he cannot control.

But Indian triumph, though not ordained, is widely being seen as a natural consequence of the team’s exquisite showing over the past two months.

In times past Indian fans felt trepidation before a big final.

“For once that sense of nervousness is not there,” said one fan.

“This is a special team and we know that.”

نشرت في: 18/11/2023 – 18:55

2 دقائق

قادما من إسرائيل، توجه وزير الجيوش الفرنسية سيباستيان لوكورنو إلى قطر التي زارها قبل يومين فقط، من أجل إجراء مباحثات مع رئيس وزرائها محمد بن عبد الرحمن آل ثاني.

وكان الوزير زار تباعا مصر والسعودية والإمارات وقطر ثم إسرائيل الجمعة.

وتطرق في كل محطة إلى وضع الرهائن، خاصة وأن لدى بلاده 8 مفقودين، كما التقى بعائلات الرهائن في إسرائيل.

وأعرب لوكورنو الخميس من قطر عن “أمله” بشأن مصيرهم.

وخطفت حماس نحو 240 رهينة خلال هجومها غير المسبوق على جنوب إسرائيل في 7 تشرين الأول/أكتوبر، وفق الجيش الاسرائيلي، ومن بين الرهائن ثمانية فرنسيين، وفقاً لباريس.

وتقود قطر التي تستضيف المكتب السياسي لحماس وقدمت مساعدات مالية بملايين الدولارات لغزة، وساطة سمحت بالإفراج عن أربع رهائن في تشرين الأول/أكتوبر، هم أميركية وابنتها بالإضافة إلى إسرائيليتين.

وأدى هذا الهجوم إلى مقتل نحو 1200 شخص في إسرائيل غالبيتهم من المدنيين قضوا خصوصا في اليوم الأول من الهجوم، بحسب السلطات الإسرائيلية.

وردت الدول العبرية بقصف قطاع غزة من دون هوادة بهدف “القضاء” على حماس، ما أسفر عن مقتل أكثر من 12 ألف شخص غالبيّتهم مدنيّون وبينهم خمسة آلاف طفل، وفق أحدث حصيلة أصدرتها حكومة حماس.

 

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