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Argentine Election Season Begins with Much-watched Primaries

Associated Press

   BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA - Argentines are entering the tightest
   presidential race since the return of the country's democracy with
   conservative President Mauricio Macri facing an opposition ticket
   including ex-President Cristina Fernandez, and primary elections Sunday
   are expected to provide a hint of who might win October's vote.

   Party primaries are closely watched in Argentina because they are held
   simultaneously and voting is obligatory, so they are seen as referendum
   on candidates' popularity -- effectively an early poll involving the
   entire electorate.

   This year's primaries will be "a great orchestra rehearsal (for the Oct
   27 election) in which we are going to see which instruments will play,
   which will play loudly and which will be silenced," said Luis Tonelli,
   a political science professor at the University of Buenos Aires.

   He said he hasn't seen an electoral process "this close and with this
   much uncertainty" since a seven-year military dictatorship ended in
   1983. He described it as "a tossed coin hanging in the air."

   Markets could go up or down depending on whether the business-friendly
   Macri or center-left ticket of Alberto Fernandez and Cristina Fernandez
   poll favorably on Sunday. Alberto Fernandez was the former president's
   chief of staff during her initial term from 2007-2011, and she
   surprised many people when she announced that she would be the vice
   presidential candidate while he runs for president.

   If no candidate wins outright in October, there would be a November
   runoff.

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