| 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 June 2009 |
| Purpose of elections |
Early elections were held to renew one-third (24) of the seats in the Senate. Elections to the Senate had previously taken place on 28 October 2007. |
On 13 March 2009
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner proposed to hold early parliamentary elections on 28 June instead of 28 October. She argued that early elections would allow the government to focus more on solving the country's economic woes and less on politics. Opposition parties criticized the move
arguing that the President was calling elections before her popularity waned. Shortly before her announcement the date of local elections in Buenos Aires was moved to 28 June so as to hold local and national elections separately. Analysts said that was designed to give more time for the party of the President's opponent
Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri
to prepare for the national elections.
At stake in the 2009 parliamentary elections were 127 of the 257 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and one third of the 72 seats in the Senate.
In the previous elections held in October 2007
the Victory Front (FV) of the then President Néstor Kirchner won 62 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and five in the Senate. After the elections
the FV controlled 116 and 11 seats respectively. Following the elections
the Civic Coalition Confederation held 18 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and two in the Senate
while the Radical Civic Union (UCR) had 24 and seven seats respectively. The remaining seats went to small parties. President Kirchner's wife
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
won the presidential elections
becoming the first elected female president of the country.
President Fernández de Kirchner initially enjoyed high popularity. However
her popularity reportedly dwindled after she introduced a tax on soya bean exports in March 2008. It triggered four months of road blockades and protests by farmers. The global economic crisis and plummeting soya bean and wheat prices hit Argentina's exports. It slowed down annual economic growth to 6.8 per cent in 2008
down from 8.8 per cent the previous year. In October 2008
President Fernández de Kirchner announced a plan to nationalize the country's private pension funds amounting to US$ 24 billion. She argued that the move would protect pensions from turmoil in the global financial markets. Her opponents criticized the measure
claiming that the government was trying to use the funds to pay back its debt obligations.
Former president Néstor Kirchner was running for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies on an FV ticket. He urged voters to support his party
saying that the 2009 poll was "a choice between a return to the past and the consolidation of a national project"
referring to the country's economic crisis of 2001.
The FV was challenged by the 'Pro coalition' (Republican Proposal)
comprising dissidents from the FV. The 'Pro coalition' was led by Mr. Macri
and included a wealthy entrepreneur
Francisco de Narvaez. It pledged to fight crime. It criticized the FV for using "symbolic candidates" in the election campaign
arguing that many of its famous political figures would not play an active role in Congress.
Several farmers ran for the 2009 elections under the banner of the Argentine Agrarian Federation. They promised to cut export taxes on agricultural products.
In all
74.36 per cent of the country's 28 million registered voters turned out for the elections to the Chamber of Deputies while 72.39 per cent of the 8.5 million registered voters cast their ballot for the Senate elections. Polling took place without any major incidents.
Following the elections
the FV controlled 87 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 35 seats in the Senate. Mr. Néstor Kirchner conceded defeat and resigned as FV leader. The 'Pro coalition' won 11 seats in the Chamber of Deputies but none in the Senate.
On 3 December
the newly elected members took up their seats in Congress. The Chamber of Deputies re-elected Mr. Eduardo Alfredo Fellner (FV) as its Speaker
while the Vice-President of the country
Mr. Julio César Cobos
continues to serve as President of the Senate
as stipulated by the Constituion. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 28 June 2009 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
8'474'844
6'134'998 (72.39%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Front for Victory |
4
|
|
|
|
|
| Civic and Social Front |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Civic Front Alliance |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Civic Federal Front-UCR-CONFE |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Radical Civic Union (UCR) |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Santa Fe Federal Alliance |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Integration Front Alliance |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Front for All |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Justicialist Party (PJ) |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Alliance - La Pampa Civic and Social Front (FREPAM) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Progressive Civic and Social Front Alliance |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Alliance Front Civic and Social Accord |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Rally for Corrientes - Civic and Social Accord |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
16
8
33.33%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
- Senate (02.09.2009
29.09.2009
21.12.2009)
- http://www.elecciones.gov.ar/cdmesas/cdmesas.htm |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
