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Argentina elections: President loses in Buenos Aires province Poll setback for Argentine President Cristina Fernandez
(about 5 hours later)
First results in Argentina's key mid-term elections indicate the opposition Renewal Front has won by a wide margin in the province of Buenos Aires. The party of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has suffered a setback in mid-term polls.
Its nearest rival, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's Front for Victory, is trailing by more than 10 percentage points. The Front for Victory was defeated in Buenos Aires province, where the Renewal Front list headed by Sergio Massa won by 11.8 percentage points.
But the Front for Victory is likely to win on a nationwide level. Despite its loss in Buenos Aires, Ms Fernandez's party retained its majority in both houses of Congress.
The poll is seen as a good indicator of who might replace the president when she leaves office in two years' time.The poll is seen as a good indicator of who might replace the president when she leaves office in two years' time.
The Front for Victory looks likely to lose other large provinces, like Santa Fe, Cordoba and Mendoza. Contenders
President Fernandez has been out of action during the campaign following emergency brain surgery earlier in October. Ms Fernandez is barred by the constitution from running for a third term in office.
She is currently constitutionally barred from running for a third term in office. A constitutional amendment would have required a two-thirds majority in Congress, for which her party now has insufficient seats.
The BBC's Ignacio de los Reyes in Buenos Aires says she has been losing middle class support due to high inflation, insecurity and currency controls. Nationwide, support for the governing Front for Victory has dropped from 54% two years ago, when Ms Fernandez was elected to a second term in office, to around 33% on Sunday.
The Renewal Front is led by President Fernandez's former chief of staff Sergio Massa, who is seen as a possible presidential contender in 2015. Mr Massa said his victory in Buenos Aires - where 37% of the country's voters live - sent "a clear message" that Argentines wanted change.
He was elected mayor of the wealthy town of Tigre as a member of the Front for Victory, but left the party in June 2013 to establish a new party. A former ally and cabinet chief of Ms Fernandez who left the Front for Victory to form his own party in June, Mr Massa is now seen as a key candidate for the 2015 presidential election.
Many see Sunday's elections as the start of the race to replace her. "In just 120 days, a path to the future has been born for our province - and, why not say it, for the country too," he said.
More than 75% of the electorate took part in the polls, said the country's Interior Minister, Florencio Randazzo. The Opposition politician and Mayor of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, also hinted that he intended to run for the presidency, saying: "Tomorrow, we start with a new political map."
He said voting had been peaceful and orderly. For the governing party, Buenos Aires Province Governor Daniel Scioli is expected to throw his hat in the ring.
It was the first time 16 and 17-year-olds could vote. Discontent
New faces President Fernandez's government has been facing increasing discontent about rising crime, high inflation and corruption.
Voters were choosing 127 members of the 257-strong Chamber of Deputies and a third of the Senate's 72 members. Vice-President Amado Boudou, who is standing in for Ms Fernandez while she recovers from brain surgery, is himself under investigation for alleged corruption.
Correspondents say the results may signal an end to more than a decade of Kirchner family rule in Argentina. He stressed that despite its defeat in Buenos Aires and other populous provinces such as Santa Fe, Cordoba and Mendoza, the Front for Victory remained the most popular party nationwide.
The president's Front for Victory party is likely to regain its majority in Congress, but only by a narrow margin. Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo said more than 75% of the electorate had taken part in the polls, during which 16- and 17-year-olds were for the first time allowed to vote.
Some of her supporters had hoped for a two-thirds majority in both houses, which would have allowed a change to the constitution to allow her to stand for a third term, but it is clear this will not happen. Voters chose 127 members of the 257-strong Chamber of Deputies and a third of the Senate's 72 members.
Ms Fernandez's late husband Nestor ran the country between 2003 and 2007, when he was succeeded as president by his wife. She was then elected for a second term in 2011. Ms Fernandez has been president since 2007. She was preceded in the post by her husband Nestor Kirchner, who died three years ago.
Our correspondent says Argentina is already looking for new faces to lead the country.
Mr Massa says he wants to put an end to Kirchner family rule when he runs for president in two years.
Ms Fernandez was told by doctors earlier this month to stop her congressional election campaign after having surgery to remove a blood clot on her brain following a head injury in August.