Mauricio Macri has become the next president of Argentina after his opponent conceded the race. Macri is currently the mayor of Buenos Aires, and is also the leader of the country’s Cambiemos (“Let’s Change”) party. He is set to be sworn into office in December.
Macri won the election with over 53 percent of the vote. His opponent, Daniel Scioli, received 47 percent. Scioli is the Governor of the Buenos Aires Province.
Scioli was previously predicted to be the winner by a wide margin. Macri’s election is the first time over a decade his center-right opposition party has held the presidency. Sunday’s run-off election came after neither candidate received enough votes during the first election round in October.
Macri says he intends to shift the country more towards a free-market economy compared to his predecessors’ leftist populism ideology.
The country’s current president, Cristina Fernandez, was not eligible to run since she will have already served two consecutive terms.