Argentine legislative election, 1993
Encyclopedia
The Argentine legislative elections of 1993 were held on 3 October. Voters chose their legislators and, with a turnout of 80.3%, it produced the following results:
to approve accelerated plans for privatization
s, business deregulation
, and more flexible labor laws proposed by the man widely credited for his political "summer," Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo
. 1992 was a banner year for the Argentine economy, which grew 9% amid a 40% jump in fixed investment
and doubling of auto sales; indeed, it had been the first year since 1984 in which spending on construction and machinery exceeded depreciation
(many Argentines bought their first automobile since at least then, as well).
Storm clouds were never far from Menem's political summer skies, however. An exposé on growing corruption published by muckraking journalist Horacio Verbitsky
led to the resignation of Menem's chief strategist, Interior Minister José Luis Manzano
, and to that of a key ally, Buenos Aires
Mayor Carlos Grosso. Continuing economic uncertainty in the United States, Europe and Japan helped lead to an unexpected crisis of confidence in Argentina, as well and, though the nation's healthy foreign exchange reserves easily thwarted a November 1992 run on the Argentine peso
, the event helped trigger a sudden slowdown in Cavallo's "Argentine miracle." This negative economic turn was made all the more inopportune by the coinciding wave of layoffs on the heels of mass privatizations of large employers, such as the state oil concern YPF and the nation's vast railways
. Unemployment, which had remained at around 7% during the 1991-92 boom, leapt to nearly 10% by mid-1993.
Corncern over layoffs, the future of the newly privatized companies and over reforms to the relatively generous adjustable pension
s system inherited from populist lader Juan Perón
's heyday dominated voters' issues ahead of the October 3, 1993, mid-term elections. Ultimately, fears of a recession during 1993 did not materialize and Menem quickly translated still-rising federal revenues (as well as US$3.5 billion in income from the sale of YPF stock) to increased spending on pensions and public works, helping calm protest. Sensing an opportunity to reform Argentina's arcane electoral system, the new Interior Minister, Gustavo Béliz, proposed a replacement of the nation's system of electoral list
s for one resembling an Australian ballot. The proposed reform, which would lessen party leaders' influence over the process, helped result in his dismissal, however. President Menem's Justicialist Party
enjoyed fourth-straight electoral victory, picking up several seats in Congress, though the struggling Radical Civic Union
(UCR, which had held power during Raúl Alfonsín
's difficult 1983-89 tenure), averted a trouncing and retained its Congressional strength. The UCR even made inroads in traditionally Peronist Santiago del Estero Province
, where discontent with a political machinery long dominated by Justicialist Party
strongman Carlos Juárez
had led to riots.
The results helped persuade both President Menem and UCR leader Alfonsín to negotiate towards a mutually beneficial arrangement, a month after the election. The victory encouraged Menem to pursue his goal of amending the 1853 Argentine Constitution to allow himself re-election. Alfonsín, whose party held the balance of power, accommodated the President, in exchange for increased representation in the Senate
for the furst runner-up (presumably the UCR) and the relinquishing of the Presidential right - enjoyed since 1880 - to appoint the Mayor of Buenos Aires
(whose voters leaned towards the UCR). The consequent Olivos Pact made the 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution
along the agreed-upon lines a reality, making this the salient legacy of the 1993 legislative elections.
Argentine Congress
| Party/Electoral Alliance | Lower House Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate.... Seats |
Vote Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Justicialist Party Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de... |
127 | 42.5% |
| Radical Civic Union Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina... |
84 | 30.2% |
| MODIN | 6 | 5.8% |
| Socialist Unity Alliance | 5 | 1.6% |
| UCeDé Union of the Democratic Centre (Argentina) The Union of the Democratic Centre is a conservative political party in Argentina. It was founded in 1982 by Álvaro Alsogaray who stood for the Party in the 1983 and 1989 presidential elections.... |
4 | 2.6% |
| Broad Front Broad Front Broad Front may refer to:*Broad Front , Argentine political party*Broad Front , Paraguayan political party,... |
3 | 3.5% |
| Democratic Progressive Party Democratic Progressive Party (Argentina) The Democratic Progressive Party is a provincial political party in Santa Fe, Argentina. It was founded by Lisandro de la Torre at the Savoy Hotel in Buenos Aires on December 14, 1914. One of its founders was the academic Dr... |
2 | 1.3% |
| Autonomist Autonomist Party of Corrientes The Autonomist Party of Corrientes is a provincial political party in Argentina, Corrientes Province.... -Liberal Liberal Party of Corrientes The Liberal Party of Corrientes is a liberal conservative provincial political party in Corrientes Province, Argentina. Founded in 1856, it is the oldest political party in Argentina and in Latin America, the second oldest in the Americas.... Pact (Corrientes Province Corrientes Province Corrientes is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by : Paraguay, the province of Misiones, Brazil, Uruguay, and the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Chaco.-History:... ) |
4 | 1.1% |
| Salta Salta Province Salta is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy... Renewal Party |
3 | 0.7% |
| Popular Movement (Tierra del Fuego Province Tierra del Fuego Province (Argentina) Tierra del Fuego is an Argentine province entirely separated from mainland Argentina by the Strait of Magellan. It includes:* The eastern part of the Isla Grande of Tierra del Fuego archipelago and the Staten Island.* Argentina's claims to the Falkland Islands and to... ) |
3 | 0.1% |
| Republican Force Republican Force Tucumán The Republican Force Tucumán is a provincial conservative political party in Tucumán Province, Argentina.The party was set up by Antonio Domingo Bussi, who was Tucumán's Governor during the eary years of the 1976-83 dictatorship, and was found guilty of murder, kidnapping, and corruption... (Tucumán Province Tucumán Province Tucumán is the most densely populated, and the smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the capital is San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neighboring provinces are, clockwise from the north: Salta, Santiago del Estero and... ) |
3 | 1.4% |
| Other regional parties | 8 | 3.5% |
| Others | 5 | 5.7% |
| Invalid votes | 5.2% | |
| Total seats | 257 |
Background
Success during the 1991 mid-term elecions had encouraged President Carlos MenemCarlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
to approve accelerated plans for privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
s, business deregulation
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
, and more flexible labor laws proposed by the man widely credited for his political "summer," Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo
Domingo Cavallo
Domingo Felipe "Mingo" Cavallo is an Argentine economist and politician. He has a long history of public service and is known for implementing the Convertibilidad plan, which fixed the dollar-peso exchange rate at 1:1 between 1991 and 2001, which brought the Argentine inflation rate down from over...
. 1992 was a banner year for the Argentine economy, which grew 9% amid a 40% jump in fixed investment
Fixed investment
Fixed investment in economics refers to investment in fixed capital, i.e., tangible capital goods , or to the replacement of depreciated capital goods which have been scrapped....
and doubling of auto sales; indeed, it had been the first year since 1984 in which spending on construction and machinery exceeded depreciation
Depreciation
Depreciation refers to two very different but related concepts:# the decrease in value of assets , and# the allocation of the cost of assets to periods in which the assets are used ....
(many Argentines bought their first automobile since at least then, as well).
Storm clouds were never far from Menem's political summer skies, however. An exposé on growing corruption published by muckraking journalist Horacio Verbitsky
Horacio Verbitsky
Horacio Verbitsky is a prominent Argentine investigative journalist and author. He writes for the left-leaning Argentine newspaper Página/12 and heads up the Center for Legal and Social Studies , an Argentine human-rights organization.He is also a member of the Directive Board of Human Rights...
led to the resignation of Menem's chief strategist, Interior Minister José Luis Manzano
Jose Luis Manzano
José Luis Manzano is an Argentine medical doctor, politician and businessman. Born in the Mendoza’s district of Tupungato, he studied medicine in Universidad Nacional de Cuyo...
, and to that of a key ally, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
Mayor Carlos Grosso. Continuing economic uncertainty in the United States, Europe and Japan helped lead to an unexpected crisis of confidence in Argentina, as well and, though the nation's healthy foreign exchange reserves easily thwarted a November 1992 run on the Argentine peso
Argentine peso
The peso is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS...
, the event helped trigger a sudden slowdown in Cavallo's "Argentine miracle." This negative economic turn was made all the more inopportune by the coinciding wave of layoffs on the heels of mass privatizations of large employers, such as the state oil concern YPF and the nation's vast railways
Rail transport in Argentina
The Argentine railway network comprised of track at the end of the Second World War and was, in its time, one of the most extensive and prosperous in South America. However, with the increase in highway construction, there followed a sharp decline in railway profitability, leading to the break-up...
. Unemployment, which had remained at around 7% during the 1991-92 boom, leapt to nearly 10% by mid-1993.
Corncern over layoffs, the future of the newly privatized companies and over reforms to the relatively generous adjustable pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
s system inherited from populist lader Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
's heyday dominated voters' issues ahead of the October 3, 1993, mid-term elections. Ultimately, fears of a recession during 1993 did not materialize and Menem quickly translated still-rising federal revenues (as well as US$3.5 billion in income from the sale of YPF stock) to increased spending on pensions and public works, helping calm protest. Sensing an opportunity to reform Argentina's arcane electoral system, the new Interior Minister, Gustavo Béliz, proposed a replacement of the nation's system of electoral list
Electoral list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election to a post, usually in proportional election systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party or can constitute a group of independent candidates...
s for one resembling an Australian ballot. The proposed reform, which would lessen party leaders' influence over the process, helped result in his dismissal, however. President Menem's Justicialist Party
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
enjoyed fourth-straight electoral victory, picking up several seats in Congress, though the struggling Radical Civic Union
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
(UCR, which had held power during Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
's difficult 1983-89 tenure), averted a trouncing and retained its Congressional strength. The UCR even made inroads in traditionally Peronist Santiago del Estero Province
Santiago del Estero Province
Santiago del Estero is a province of Argentina, located in the north of the country. Neighbouring provinces are from the north clockwise Salta, Chaco, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Catamarca and Tucumán.-History:...
, where discontent with a political machinery long dominated by Justicialist Party
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
strongman Carlos Juárez
Carlos Juárez
Carlos Arturo Juárez was an Argentine politician, Justicialist Party governor or ruler by proxy of Santiago del Estero Province over a 55-year period, leading to his description as a caudillo....
had led to riots.
The results helped persuade both President Menem and UCR leader Alfonsín to negotiate towards a mutually beneficial arrangement, a month after the election. The victory encouraged Menem to pursue his goal of amending the 1853 Argentine Constitution to allow himself re-election. Alfonsín, whose party held the balance of power, accommodated the President, in exchange for increased representation in the Senate
Argentine Senate
The Argentine Senate is the upper house of the Argentine National Congress. It has 72 senators: three for each province and three for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires...
for the furst runner-up (presumably the UCR) and the relinquishing of the Presidential right - enjoyed since 1880 - to appoint the Mayor of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
(whose voters leaned towards the UCR). The consequent Olivos Pact made the 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution
1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution
The 1994 amendment to the Constitution of Argentina was approved on 22 August by a Constitutional Assembly that met in the twin cities of Santa Fe and Paraná...
along the agreed-upon lines a reality, making this the salient legacy of the 1993 legislative elections.