Peronists Head for Election Defeat

The political opposition surged toward victory in congressional elections, according to preliminary results, as voters opted for change despite the strong economic record of President Carlos Menem’s Peronist Party. With nearly three-quarters of the votes counted nationwide, the two opposition parties that form the center-left Alliance had 46%, compared with 36% for the Peronists. Menem’s party, undefeated since taking office in 1989, appeared on the verge of losing its majority in the lower house of Congress, although it will still control the Senate, which does not face elections until 2001. The loss in the lower house will force the party to “negotiate and seek consensus” to pass legislation, Interior Minister Carlos Corach acknowledged.