March 1973 Argentine general election

The first Argentine general election of 1973 was held on 11 March. Voters chose both the President and their legislators and with a turnout of 85.5%, it produced the following results:

March 1973 Argentine general election
March 11, 1973
 
Nominee Héctor Cámpora Ricardo Balbín Francisco Manrique
Party Justicialist Party Radical Civic Union Federal Party
Alliance Justicialist Liberation Front Popular Federalist Alliance
Home state Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Mendoza
Running mate Vicente Solano Lima Eduardo Gamond Rafael Martínez Raymonda
States carried 23 + CABA
Popular vote 5,907,464 2,537,605 1,775,867
Percentage 49.6% 21.3% 14.9%
Most voted party by province.
President before election

Alejandro Lanusse
none (de facto regime)

 Elected President

Héctor Cámpora
Justicialist Party

President
Party/Electoral Alliance Votes Percentage
Justicialist Liberation Front 5,907,464 49.6%
Radical Civic Union 2,537,605 21.3%
Popular Federalist Alliance 1,775,867 14.9%
Popular Revolutionary Alliance 885,201 7.4%
Federal Republican Alliance 347,215 2.9%
New Force 234,188 2.0%
Democratic Socialist Party 109,068 0.9%
others 122,367 1.0%
Total votes 11,918,975 100.0%

Note: The FREJULI ticket was declared the winner, bypassing the Electoral College.

Argentine Chamber of Deputies
Party/Electoral Alliance Seats % of votes
Justicialist
MID
Popular Conservative		 131
12
2
FREJULI 145 49.5%
UCR 51 21.3%
Federalist 20 14.8%
Popular Revolutionary 12 7.4%
Federal Republican 7 2.9%
Others 8 4.1%
Invalid votes 2.6%
Total 243 100.0%

[1]

Background

The 1966 coup d'état against the moderate President Arturo Illia was carried out largely as a reaction to Illia's decision to honor local and legislative elections in which Peronists, officially banned from political activity following the violent overthrow of President Juan Perón in 1955, did well in. Five years later, however, President Alejandro Lanusse found himself heading an unpopular junta, saddled by increasing political violence and an economic wind-down from the prosperous 1960s. Seizing the initiative, he gathered leaders from across the nation's political and intellectual spectrum for a July 1971 asado, a time-honored Argentine custom as much about camaraderie as about steak.

UCR leader Ricardo Balbín and Juan Perón, who again, in exile, became the central issue of the 1973 campaign.

The result was Lanusse's "Great National Agreement," a road map to the return to democratic rule, including Peronists (the first such concession the military had made since Perón's 1955 exile). The agreement, however, bore little resemblance to what had been discussed and, instead, proposed virtual veto power for the armed forces over most future domestic and foreign policy. This patently unacceptable condition led most political figures to dismiss the much-touted event as the "Great National Asado," instead.

A year later, President Lanusse made the much-anticipated announcement: elections would be held, nationally, on March 11, 1973. Retaliating for Perón's unequivocal rejection of the 1971 accords, Lanusse limited the field of candidates to those residing in Argentina as of August 25, 1972 - a clear denial of the aging Perón the right to run on his own party's ticket (the likely winners). Perón did return to Argentina, however, on November 17, when, during a month-long stay, he secured the endorsement of prominent figures such as former President Arturo Frondizi of the Integration and Development Movement, Jorge Abelardo Ramos of the Popular Leftist Front (FIP), Popular Conservative Alberto Fonrouge, Christian Democrat Carlos Imbaud, and other, mainly provincial parties. These diverse parties signed on to an umbrella ticket, led by the Justicialist Party and Perón's personal representative in Argentina, Héctor Cámpora. Partly in recognition for their support and to provide a counter-weight to the left-leaning Cámpora, Perón had the Justicialist Liberation Front (FREJULI) nominate for Vice President Popular Conservative leader Vicente Solano Lima, a newspaper publisher respected across most of Argentina's vastly diverse political spectrum.

Given little time to campaign by the calculating Lanusse (who fielded his own candidate, Brigadier General Ezequiel Martínez, for his ad hoc Federal Republican Alliance), the nation's myriad parties jockeyed for alliances and rushed to name candidates. The main opposition, the centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR), put forth their 1958 nominee, former Congressman Ricardo Balbín (head of the party's more conservative wing). Hoping to carry the mantle of those supporting Lanusse, Social Policy Minister Francisco Manrique ran on the Federalist ticket and Américo Ghioldi, who had led a split in the Socialist Party in 1958, ran on his Democratic Socialist slate - refusing (as the traditional Socialists had done) to endorse the Popular Revolutionary Alliance headed by former Governor Oscar Alende (the runner-up in the 1963 election).

The March 11 polls went smoothly and the FREJULI, which needed 50% of the total to avoid a runoff as per Lanusse's agreement, garnered 49.6%. The irony of the result, which came despite a 28% margin over the runners-up (the UCR), led the seasoned Balbín to petition President Lanusse for a waiver of the rule, something he granted, making the FREJULI alliance the winners of the March 11, 1973 election and paving the way for the definitive return of Juan Perón, whom Lanusse, many years later, would admit to being his "life's obsession." [2]

Todo Argentina

Candidates
  • Cámpora
  • Balbín
  • Manrique
  • Alende

Governors


Election of Provincial Governors
Elected: 22 provincial governors
Province Elected Party Map
Buenos Aires Oscar Bidegain Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Catamarca Hugo Alberto Mott Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Chaco Deolindo Bittel Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Chubut Benito Fernández Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Córdoba Ricardo Obregón Cano Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Corrientes Julio Romero Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Entre Ríos Enrique Tomás Cresto Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Formosa Antenor Argentino Gauna Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Jujuy Carlos Snopek Frente Justicialista de Liberación
La Pampa Aquiles José Regazzoli Frente Justicialista de Liberación
La Rioja Carlos Menem Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Mendoza Alberto Martínez Baca Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Misiones Juan Manuel Irrazábal Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Neuquén Felipe Sapag Movimiento Popular Neuquino
Río Negro Mario José Franco Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Salta Miguel Ragone Frente Justicialista de Liberación
San Juan Eloy Camus Frente Justicialista de Liberación
San Luis Elías Adre Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Santa Cruz Jorge Cepernic Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Santa Fe Carlos Sylvestre Begnis Movimiento de Integración y Desarrollo
Santiago del Estero Carlos Juárez Frente Justicialista de Liberación
Tucumán Amado Juri Frente Justicialista de Liberación
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References
  1. Nohlen, Dieter. Elections in the Americas. Oxford University Press, 2005.
  2. Clarín. 11 March 1993.
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