| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Congreso de la nación / National Congress |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Senado / Senate |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
28 October 2007 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held to renew one-third (24) of the seats in the Senate on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
On 28 October 2007, elections were held for 130 of the 257 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 24 of the 72 seats in the Senate, in parallel with presidential elections.
Between 1945 and 2005, the country's politics had been dominated by the Peronist Justicialist Party (PJ) and by the Radical Civic Union (UCR). However, the PJ had split before the previous elections in October 2005, when President Néstor Kirchner formed a breakaway party called the Victory Front (FV). The centre-left FV and its allies won the 2005 elections by taking 17 of the 24 seats at stake in the Senate, and 69 in the Chamber of Deputies. The PJ faction, led by former President Eduardo Duhalde, secured 11 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and four in the Senate. The UCR and its allies won 19 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and three in the Senate. President Kirchner's wife, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, took a senatorial seat, defeating Mr. Duhalde's wife, Hilda González de Duhalde.
In July, the FV announced that it would endorse President Kirchner's wife, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, as its presidential candidate. In all, 14 candidates ran for the presidency. For the first time in 90 years, the UCR did not field a presidential candidate.
Ms. Fernández de Kirchner called on voters to keep supporting the FV so that it could continue its economic policy. She underscored the drop in the unemployment rate (8.5 per cent in 2007) and high economic growth (8 per cent in 2006) achieved under her husband's administration.
Her main rivals were former congresswoman Ms. Elisa Carrió, and former economy minister Mr. Roberto Lavagna. Ms. Carrió formed the Civic Coalition Confederation, which comprised her Alternative Republic of Equals party (ARI, eight seats in the Chamber of Deputies in 2005) and some members of the Socialist Party and the UCR. Her anti-corruption platform reportedly attracted strong support in urban areas. Mr. Lavagna of the centrist An Advanced Nation party presented himself as an "alternative" to, and not an "opponent" of the Kirchners. The running mates of Mr. Lavagna and Mrs. Fernández de Kirchner were both UCR members.
The centre-right electoral alliance the Republican Proposal endorsed Mr. Ricardo López Murphy as its presidential candidate. After the collapse of coalition talks between Ms. Carrió and Mr. Murphy, both alliances ran separate campaigns for the presidential and parliamentary elections. Opponents of President Kirchner established a new party, the Union and Freedom Justicialist Front, and backed the candidature of right-wing Governor Alberto Rodríguez Saá. Most opposition parties reportedly failed to provide a clear alternative to the FV's policy.
Over 71 per cent of the country's 27 million eligible voters turned out at the presidential polls.
The FV and its allies obtained an increased majority in both chambers: 161 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and 48 seats in the Senate. The Civic Coalition Confederation came in second with 25 seats and five seats respectively.
In the presidential elections, Ms. Fernández de Kirchner was elected with over 45 percent of the vote, ahead of Ms. Carrió, who took 23 percent. Mrs. Fernández de Kirchner succeeded her husband on 10 December, becoming the first elected female president of the country.
On the same day, the newly-elected Congress held its first session. Mr. Eduardo Alfred Fellner (FV) was elected as the new Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. The Vice-President of the country, Mr. Julio César Cobos (UCR) automatically became President of the Senate. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 28 October 2007 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Grand total |
|
|
|
| Victory Front Alliance |
5
|
11 |
|
|
|
| Justicialist Party - Justicialist Front for Victory Alliance |
2
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Civic Front for Santiago |
2
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Affirmation for an Egalitarian Republic |
2
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Justicialist Front Chaco Deserves Better Alliance |
2
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Justicialist Front for Victory Alliance |
2
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Civic Coalition Alliance |
1
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Concerted Action for Development Alliance |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Front for Everyone Alliance |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Victory Front - Salta Renewal Party Alliance |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Victory Front |
1
|
5 |
|
|
|
| Neuquino Popular Movement |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Viable Santiago Movement |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Federalist Union (Pa.U.Fe) |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Radical Civic Union (UCR) |
1
|
7 |
|
|
|
| Victory Party |
0
|
2 |
|
|
|
| New Party |
0
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Socialist Party |
0
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Front for the Renewal of Concordia |
0
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Republican Force |
0
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Justicialist |
0
|
13 |
|
|
|
| Production and Labour Front Alliance |
0
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Alliance Union of Cordoba |
0
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Civic and Social Front of Catamarca |
0
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Jujuy Front |
0
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Justicialist Front for Victory |
0
|
1 |
|
|
|
| New Front Alliance |
0
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Justicialist Front Alliance |
0
|
3 |
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
14
10
41.67%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Note on the "Distribution of seats":
The Ministry of the Interior did not publish the election results for the Senate. The "Distribution of seats" above shows the final composition of the Senate, which was complied by the IPU Secretariat on the basis of information available from the official website of the Senate. The "Total" column indicates the number of senators who took their seats following the 2007 elections and the "Grand total" column lists the total number of seats held by each parliamentary group. It thus includes senators whose seats were not up for renewal at the 2007 general elections.
Source: http://www.senado.gov.ar |
A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page