Buenos Aires: Argentina’s third placed presidential candidate Patricia Bullrich has announced her support for far-right contender Javier Milei for next month’s runoff election.
Addressing reporters late Wednesday, Bullrich, a candidate of the conservative alliance Together for Change who was placed third in Sunday’s election, announced her backing for Milei, a candidate from the far-right Liberty Advances coalition, reports Xinhua news agency.
“The urgency challenges us not to be neutral,” said Bullrich, a centre-right politician and Argentina’s security minister from 2015 to 2019.
She garnered nearly 24 per cent of the votes in the first round of elections, compared to 37 per cent for Economy Minister Sergio Massa and 30 per cent for Milei.
“We have differences with Milei, but we have the obligation not to be neutral. We must join forces for a higher goal,” said Bullrich, referring to the competition with Massa, a candidate of the ruling Union for the Homeland coalition.
The Together for Change alliance, which governed Argentina between 2015 and 2019 under the leadership of then-president Mauricio Macri, comprises three parties, two of which refused to back Milei.
The winner of the runoff, scheduled for November 19, will succeed incumbent President Alberto Fernandez from December 10, 2023, to December 10, 2027.
The runoff was necessitated as neither Milei nor Massa could garner more than 45 per cent of the votes required to be elected.
Sunday’s election saw a voter turnout of 74 per cent.
As well as choosing its new president and vice-president, Argentinians also voted for 130 new representatives for the lower house of Congress, which has 257 members, and 24 new senators for the 72-member upper house.
–IANS