Argentine far-right outsider Milei posts shock win in primary election

Argentine voters punished the country's two main political forces in a primary election on Sunday, pushing a rock-singing libertarian outsider candidate into first place in a huge shake-up in the race towards presidential elections in October.

With some 90 percent of ballots counted, far-right libertarian economist Javier Milei had around 30 percent of the vote, far higher than predicted, with the main conservative opposition bloc behind on 28 percent and the ruling Peronist coalition in third place on 27 percent.

The result is a stinging rebuke to the center-left Peronist coalition and the main Together for Change conservative opposition bloc with inflation at 116 percent and a cost-of-living crisis leaving four in 10 people in poverty.

"We are the true opposition," Milei said in a bullish speech after the results. "A different Argentina is impossible with the same old things that have always failed."

Voting in the primaries is obligatory for most adults and each person gets one vote, making it in effect a dress rehearsal for the October 22 general election and giving a clear indication of who is the favorite to win the presidency.

(Reuters)