ELECTIONS HELD IN 1995
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| Chamber: | |
| Cámara de Diputados | |
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| 14 May 1995 | |
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| Elections were held for one-half (130) of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies on the normal expiry of the members’ term of office. | |
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| Polling for one-half of the 257 Deputies’ seats was held simultaneously with voting for President and Vice-President of the Republic, provincial governors and municipal offices. In the presidential race, 13 candidates challenged the incumbent Mr. Carlos Menem (Justicialist Party – PJ), who had been elected for a six-year term in May 1989. Prominent among these was Senator José Bordon of the newly formed National Solidarity Front (FREPASO) coalition that comprised Socialists, Christian Democrats and dissident Peronists, and Mr. Horacio Nassaccesi of the Radical Civic Union (UCR). During the campaign, Mr. Menem pointed to the successes of his “neoliberalist” economic reforms since taking office; masterminded by Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo and marked by free-market policies, privatisation of enterprises and austerity measures, they had drastically reduced inflation, encouraged foreign investment and led to steady annual growth. “It’s me or chaos” was the charismatic President’s slogan. Mr. Bordon, the nominee of the centre-left and fragile FREPASO after having defected from the Peronist (i.e. advocating nationalism and social development) PJ in February 1995, focused on the issue of corruption in the ruling circles and the social repercussion (especially unemployment) of Mr. Menem’s economic reforms, particularly on Argentina’s lower classes.
On polling day, the outgoing President won an outright victory with over 49% of the popular vote. Thanks to the constitutional reforms which allowed a second consecutive term, he thus became only the second individual in the 20th century to be re-elected (but this time for a four-year term) after Juan Peron in 1951. The PJ also gained a clear absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies to go with its leading position in the Senate, raising its total to 137 – 12 more than before. The major Loser turned out to be the Radical Party, which saw its congressional total shrink from 83 to 69. The newly elected Deputies will take their seats on 10 December 1995. |
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STATISTICS
| Round no 1 (14 May 1995): Elections results | |
| Number of registered electors | 22,158,612 |
| Voters | 17,939,156 (80.95%) |
| Blank or invalid ballot papers | 672,030 |
| Valid votes | 17,267,126 |
| Round no 1: Distribution of votes | |||
| Political Group | Votes | % | |
| Justicialist Party (PJ) | 7,178,720 | 43.07 | |
| Radical Civic Union(UCR) | 3,608,676 | 21.74 | |
| National Solidarity Front (FREPASO) | 3,482,796 | 20.97 | |
| Others (Modin and Ucedé) | 771,733 | 4.64 | |
| Round no 1: Distribution of seats | |||
| Political Group | Total | Gain/Loss | |
| Justicialist Party (PJ) | 137 | +12 | |
| Radical Civic Union(UCR) | 69 | -14 | |
| National Solidarity Front (FREPASO) | 26 | +13 | |
| Others (Modin and Ucedé) | 25 | -11 | |
| Distribution of seats according to sex: | |
| Men: | 192 |
| Women: | 65 |
Copyright © 1995 Inter-Parliamentary Union