We share some initial data and conclusions that we will expand in other articles. One of the main outcomes of yesterday’s election is that the Left emerged as the third national force, with the Frente de Izquierda Unidad obtaining more than 1 million votes, surpassing the 5% of the vote nationally. This is a political accomplishment and a good basis to move on to the general elections on November 14.
Within these numbers, there were very prominent votes, such as those obtained in Jujuy (23%), Province of Buenos Aires (5.2%), City of Buenos Aires (6.2%), Chubut (9.4%), Neuquén (7.8%), San Juan (6,9%), Santa Cruz (7.8%), Salta (5%), La Rioja (5%), Mendoza (4.9%) among other important votes.
At the same time, the results also show the true reality of the Left forces in the electoral arena, both of those of us who are part of the FIT-U and of other forces that are outside of it and had poor results, paying the price for their divisive stance.
In the case of the FIT-U as a whole, the two lists obtained more than 1,000,000 votes.
Within this, the list put forward by the MST obtained more than 280,000 votes, reaching almost 30% of the total. Thus clearly becoming one of the main forces of the front, as the other list (“1A”), formed by 3 parties and several other organizations, got the rest, an amount that is not divided equally between the three, but with clear differences among them.
Our results in the FIT-U primaries
Within the results obtained by the list of the MST within the FIT Unidad, the victories we achieved in Salta, San Juan, La Rioja and Entre Ríos stand out. The very important votes in Mendoza, Jujuy, Río Negro, Neuquén, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Catamarca, La Pampa, among others. The good election in the City of Buenos Aires (CABA) and the very important vote in the province of Buenos Aires where we fight vote by vote to exceed the 20% mark and enter the first rotation of an elected representative. Something undemocratic in itself, a product of an undemocratic rule imposed by the 1A list (PTS-PO-IS).
In light of the results, List 1A should be open to modifying these undemocratic electoral rules, there can be no excuses. It needs to be done to reflect reality and respect the voters of the Left. The representation of around 90,000 votes of workers and young people cannot be left out of the rotation of the 1st congressperson that is elected. To do so would not only be very undemocratic and alien to Left politics, but it would also be to maintain bourgeois-electoral criteria within the front. Something that weakens the front in perspective and questions it. The same goes for Jujuy, where there was an even more undemocratic mark of more than 30%, something unheard of that must also be modified.
Poor election of the Nuevo MAS and Castañeira
With these numbers, the MST also came out of these elections well above the national numbers of the Nuevo MAS, which obtained only 131,341 votes, less than half of what the MST obtained.
In addition, in the strategic province of Buenos Aires our candidate Alejandro Bodart obtained 20% of the votes of the FITU in his first election in the province, and clearly surpassed the main public figure of the Nuevo MAS, Manuela Castañeira, who comes out of this election weakened. Bodart also surpassed Altamira from Politica Obrera by a much wider margin. In the City of Buenos Aires, our comrade Cele Fierro, also far surpassed Ramal of Política Obrera and Winokur of the Nuevo MAS.
With these general numbers we enter a new stage within the Left, where the ideas that the MST in the FIT Unidad put forward throughout the campaign come out stronger and more installed: the need for the Left to surpass itself, to strengthen itself, to put aside sectarian and dogmatic traits, to open up and convene broadly to transform itself into a true alternative for power.