Exit polls last night pointed to a crushing victory for Mr Fernando de la Rua over his Peronist rival, Mr Eduardo Duhalde, in yesterday's presidential elections, as Mr De la Rua secured just over 50 per cent of the votes, well ahead of the 45 per cent required to prevent a second-round runoff.
Mr Duhalde scored a disappointing 34.5 per cent of votes, confirming a historic defeat for the Justicialist Party (PJ), which has ruled for the past 10 years.
Mr Domingo Cavallo won 10 per cent of the votes, confirming his right-wing Action for the Republic party as the third force in Argentinian politics.
In the crucial elections for governor of Buenos Aires province, Alliance candidate Ms Graciela Fernandez Meijide triumphed over rival Peronist Mr Carlos Ruckauf, winning an estimated 45 per cent of votes to Mr Ruckauf's 41 per cent. Earlier, voters had turned out in force throughout the country. There were queues from early morning in Floresta, a working class neighbourhood in northern Buenos Aires, where the military guarded polling booths.
"They're all as bad as each other," said Ms Teresa Masetti, an elderly pensioner who expressed indifference toward all the available candidates. Opinion polls suggest that 40 per cent of voters are convinced that none of the candidates running for office will be capable of resolving pressing issues of unemployment and crime. Voting however is obligatory, and abstention can result in a stiff fine.
Voters contrasted the prevailing mood of apathy with the euphoria surrounding the 1983 elections, which put an end to seven years of brutal military rule.
"Back then, parents brought their children to the polling booth, people cried as they voted," recalled Ms Fernanda Diz, as she queued to vote. Since then however the country has had three democratic regimes which have failed to end the continuing decline in living standards.