Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri, widely regarded as the symbolic winner of the first round of Argentina's presidential election despite coming second to ruling-party candidate Daniel Scioli, called for dialogue and courted voters of other opposition candidates Monday, dpa reported. With over 97 per cent of the votes counted, Scioli, of the centre-left Front for Victory (FPV) of outgoing Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, had close to 36.9 per cent of the votes in Sunday's election. Macri, the candidate of the centre-right coalition Cambiemos, had 34.3 per cent. Scioli and Macri are to face off in a run-off on November 22, and 21.3 per cent of voters who backed third-placed Sergio Massa, a former chief of staff to Fernandez de Kirchner, were particularly sought after ahead of the crucial vote. "In the coming times in Argentina we need to be very open to dialogue with everyone who took part in this election," Macri told reporters Monday. The issue ahead of the election, based on opinion polls that turned out to be uniformly wrong, had been whether Scioli would reach the 40 per cent of the votes and a 10-percentage-point lead over the second-placed candidate he needed to reach the presidency in just one round of voting. It was considered uncertain whether Macri could reach 30 per cent and hold the Peronist ruling-party candidate to a run-off at all, so the fact that his percentage was a lot higher and Scioli's lead was relatively small was a major victory for Macri even if he still came in second. In particular, the Cambiemos coalition surprised most by winning the governorship in the Buenos Aires province adjacent to the capital, a traditional stronghold of the Peronist movement which has held sway there since 1987. Outgoing Governor Scioli will be succeeded by Cambiemos' Maria Eugenia Vidal. "Argentina needs change, and we are willing to implement it," Macri said. Scioli also appeared before reporters Monday, and called upon those who voted for parties who are now out of the race, particularly Massa's, to support him in the run-off. Dissident Peronist voters and those who want an economy based on a strong domestic demand are closer to him than they are to Macri, he said. "It is Macri who has a problem, not us," Scioli said. He also admitted, however, that an assessment of his party's approach was in order after Sunday's election. "[The run-off] is the great final over the country's future between Macri and myself," Scioli said. "I am more convinced than ever that Argentinians will support me to be the next president," he said.
