Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: By what margin did Carlos Saúl Menem Akil win the presidential election?
Military rule ended in 1983, and the radical Raúl Alfonsín was elected president. Menem ran for governor again, and was elected by a clear margin. The province benefited from tax regulations established by the military, which allowed increased industrial growth. His party got control of the provincial legislature, and he was re-elected in 1987 with 63% of the vote. The PJ was divided in two factions, the conservatives that still supported the political doctrines of Juan and Isabel Perón, and those who proposed a renovation of the party. The internal disputes ceased in 1987. Menem, with his prominent victory in his district, was one of the leading figures of the party, and disputed its leadership.[1]
In 1994, after a political agreement (the Olivos Pact) with the Radical Civic Union party leader, former president Raúl Alfonsín, Menem succeeded in having the Constitution modified to allow presidential re-election. He ran for office once again in 1995.
In 2003 the FPV with the candidacy of Nestor Kirchner came second in the presidential elections with 22% of the vote, behind former president Carlos Menem with 24%. As provided in the Constitution, corresponded settling the election in a runoff, but Menem, with polls favoring Kirchner by more than 60%, withdrew from it, being for that reason elected President of Argentina, Nestor Carlos Kirchner, for the period 2003-10 December 2007.
After the return of democracy in 1983, the Christian Democratic Party was reunited. In 1989, the Party formed an alliance with the Justicialist Party to support the presidential bid of Carlos Menem. Shortly after Menem won the election, the PDC left the coalition, but not before the strategy had provoked a split in its ranks. The PDC's leader, Carlos Auyero, and his followers in the 'Humanism and Liberation' grouping left the Party to help form what would become the Broad Front with Carlos Álvarez and other dissident Peronists.
Carlos Saúl Menem Akil (born July 2, 1930) is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from July 8, 1989 to December 10, 1999. He has been a Senator for La Rioja Province since December 10, 2005.
In the Argentine general election, 2003 three Peronistas ran for President. Right-wing candidate and then former President Carlos Menem was seeking re-election and, although he did win the first round, all polls showed that left-wing candidate Nestor Kirchner would win, thus resulting in Menem to resign his candidacy. Kirchner and his wife Cristina Fernández would then win several consecutive elections.
Ángel Maza, the elected governor of La Rioja, was allied with Menem, and had campaigned for him. However, weak provincial finances forced Maza to switch his support to Kirchner, which weakened Menem's influence even further.[50] In June 2004 Menem announced that he had founded a new faction within the PJ, called "People's Peronism". He announced his intention to run in the 2007 election. In 2005, the press reported that he was trying to form an alliance with his former minister of economy Cavallo to fight in the parliamentary elections. Menem said that there had been only preliminary conversations and an alliance did not result. In the October 23, 2005 elections, Menem won the minority seat in the Senate representing his province of birth. The two seats allocated to the majority were won by President Kirchner's faction, locally led by Ángel Maza.[51]
He was also friend of Carlos Saúl Menem, under whose presidency he once again became an influential man in the Argentinian business world. He had introduced Menem, also the son of Syrians, to Perón in 1964, though Antonio later distanced himself from the colorful Menem, who abandoned much of the populist Peronist platform during his presidency, in the 1990s.
Argentina held presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday, April 27, 2003. Turnout was 78.2%. No one presidential candidate gained enough votes to win outright, but the scheduled runoff was canceled when first-round winner Carlos Menem pulled out, handing the presidency to runner-up Néstor Kirchner.
President Carlos Menem sought a constitutional amendment to allow his re-election, and Alfonsín opposed it. The victory in the 1993 midterm elections strengthened the PJ, which approved the bill in the Senate. Menem proposed a referendum on the amendment, to force the radical deputies to support it. He also proposed a bill for a law that would allow a constitutional amendment with a simple majority of the Congress. As a result, Alfonsín made the Pact of Olivos with him. With this agreement, the UCR would support Menem's proposal, but with further amendments that would reduce presidential power. The Council of Magistrates of the Nation reduced the influence of the executive power over the judiciary, the city of Buenos Aires would become an autonomous territory allowed to elect its own mayor, and the presidential term of office would be reduced to four years. The presidential elections would include the two-round system, and the electoral college would be abolished. Alfonsín was elected to the constituent assembly that worked for the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution. A faction of the UCR, led by Fernando de la Rúa, opposed the pact, but the party as a whole supported Alfonsín. The UCR got only 19% of the vote in the elections, attaining third position in the 1995 presidential elections behind the Frepaso, when Menem was re-elected. Alfonsín resigned the presidency of the party in that year.
He ran in the primary elections of the Justicialist Party (PJ) for the 1989 presidential elections. Carlos Menem, governor of La Rioja, prevailed in both the primary and the main elections and became the new president of Argentina. Rodríguez Saá was elected to the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution. He attempted to run in the primary elections for the 1995 presidential elections against Menem, who was seeking re-election. Not seeing any chance of prevailing against the president, he abandoned his candidacy. He also attempted to run in the primary elections for the 1999 presidential elections, and resigned his candidacy again, this time on behalf of Eduardo Duhalde, governor of the Buenos Aires Province. Duhalde lost the elections to the radical Fernando de la Rúa, and Rodríguez Saá was again re-elected as governor. He attempted to divide the city of San Luis into four municipalities, as the mayor was a political rival, but had to drop the project because of the popular unrest generated by the proposal.
In August 2001 Bolocco's marriage to Young was annulled. On 26 May 2001, Bolocco married former Argentine president Carlos Menem in La Rioja, Argentina, whom she met while interviewing him at the Casa Rosada presidential house in Argentina. On November 19, 2003, their first son, Máximo Saúl Menem Bolocco, was born in Santiago, Chile. They separated in April 2007 and officially divorced in May 2011.
Menem supported the Washington Consensus, and tackled inflation with the Convertibility plan in 1991. The plan was complemented by a series of privatizations, and was a success. Argentina re-established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom, suspended since the 1982 Falklands War, and developed special relations with the United States. The country suffered two terrorist attacks. The Peronist victory in the 1993 midterm elections allowed him to force Alfonsín to sign the Pact of Olivos for the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution. This amendment allowed Menem to run for re-election in 1995, which he won. A new economic crisis began, and the opposing parties formed a political coalition that won the 1997 midterm elections and the 1999 presidential election.
In the early days, Menem sported an image similar to the old caudillos, such as Facundo Quiroga and Chacho Peñaloza. He groomed his sideburns in a similar style. His presidential inauguration was attended by several gauchos.[62] Contrary to Peronist tradition, Menem did not prepare huge rallies in the Plaza de Mayo to address the people from the balcony of the Casa Rosada. Instead, he took full advantage of mass media, such as television.[63]
Following promises to the contrary, Alfonsín turned to increasingly conservative policies in the face of an inherited financial crisis and massive inflation (the world's highest, at the time). Miguel, who led a decimated UOM with a membership (150,000) less than half of its 1970s level, became increasingly marginal to the national discourse; by 1990, he was relegated to helping mediate conflicts between Ubaldini and Alfonsín's successor, President Carlos Menem. Menem, a lifelong Peronist who had been nominated partly with Miguel's last-minute support, quickly took to privatizing Argentina's array of State enterprises, a surprise move opposed by the CGT for the many layoffs it caused. The now compliant Miguel was compelled to call off a strike even after Menem's 1991 sell-off of SOMISA, then Argentina's largest steelmaker, and to support Menem's 1995 reelection bid. Following a decade of Argentina's first (and only) anti-labor Peronist administration, an ally of Miguel's, Buenos Aires Province Governor Eduardo Duhalde was soundly defeated in the 1999 presidential election.
Timerman was an early critic of Carlos Saúl Menem of the Justicialist Party, who became a presidential candidate after serving as governor of La Rioja Province. In 1988, during the presidential campaign, Timerman criticized Menem's plan to establish a free port at Isla Martin Garcia, saying it would encourage drug trafficking and money laundering. Menem filed a libel suit against the journalist that year. Timerman was acquitted in the trial, as well as in an appeals trial. Timerman opposed Menem during his election campaign in 1988.
Despite of the internal opposition of Fernando de la Rúa, Alfonsín got his party to approve the pact. He reasoned that Menem would be supported by the eventual referendum, that many legislators would turn to his side, and he would eventually be able to amend the constitution reinforcing presidential power rather than limiting it. Still, as both sides feared a betrayal, all the contents of the pact were included as a single proposal, not allowing the Constituent Assembly to discuss each one separately. The Broad Front, a new political party composed of former Peronists, led by Carlos Álvarez, grew in the elections for the Constituent Assembly.[29] Both the PJ and the UCR respected the pact, which was completely approved. Duhalde made a similar amendment to the constitution of the Buenos Aires province, in order to be re-elected in 1995. Menem won the elections with more than 50% of the vote, followed by José Octavio Bordón, and Carlos Álvarez. The UCR finished third in the elections for the first time.[30]
Antonio Cafiero, a rival of Menem in the PJ, was unable to amend the constitution of the Buenos Aires province to run for a re-election. Duhalde stepped down from the vice presidency and became the new governor in the 1991 elections, turning the province into a powerful bastion. Menem also selected famous people with no political background to run for office in those elections including the singer Palito Ortega and racing driver Carlos Reutemann. The elections were a big success for the PJ.[26] After these elections, all of the PJ was aligned with Menem's leadership, with the exception of a small number of legislators known as the "Group of Eight". The opposition from the UCR was minimal, as the party was still discredited by the 1989 crisis. With such political influence, Menem began his proposal to amend the constitution to allow a re-election.[27] The party did not have the required super majority in the Congress to call for it. The PJ was divided, as other politicians intended to replace Menem in 1995, or negotiate their support. The UCR was divided as well, as Alfonsín opposed the proposal, but governors Angeloz and Massaccesi were open for negotiations. The victory in the 1993 elections strengthened his proposal, which was approved by the Senate. Menem called for a non-binding referendum on the proposal, to increase pressure on the radical deputies. He also sent a bill to the Congress to modify the majority requirements. Alfonsín met with Menem and agreed to support the proposal in exchange for amendments that would place limits on presidential power. This negotiation is known as the Pact of Olivos. The capital city of Buenos Aires would be allowed to elect its own chief of government. Presidential elections would use a system of ballotage, and the president could only be re-elected once. The electoral college was abolished, replaced by direct elections. The provinces would be allowed to elect a third senator; two for the majority party and one for the first minority. The Council of Magistrates of the Nation would have the power to propose new judges, and the Necessity and Urgency Decrees would have a reduced scope.[28]
Born in Anillaco, Menem became a Peronist during a visit to Buenos Aires. He led the party in his home province of La Rioja, and was elected governor in 1973. He was deposed and detained during the 1976 Argentine coup d'état, and was elected governor again in 1983. He defeated the Buenos Aires governor Antonio Cafiero in the primary elections for the 1989 presidential elections, which he won. Hyperinflation forced outgoing president Raúl Alfonsín to resign early, shortening the presidential transition.
The PJ held primary elections for the 1989 presidential elections between Carlos Menem, governor of La Rioja, and Antonio Cafiero, governor of the Buenos Aires Province. Menem won these elections, with Duhalde as candidate for the vice presidency under his ticket, and then won the general elections. Duhalde did not like the legislative work, and preferred to work with the actual administration of a district. Menem suggested that he run for governor of the populous Buenos Aires Province, which Duhalde accepted on the condition of a great budget aid to the province. This proposal was supported in Congress by Alfonsín, which led to a steady alliance between both politicians. Duhalde was elected governor, ending the political influence of Cafiero.
Some Syrian and Lebanese immigrants did settle in the province, among whom the most well-known are probably the Menem family. Coming from what had been the Ottoman Empire, Saul Menem and his wife were of Armenian and Alawi ancestry. He prospered as a traveling salesman and sent his eldest son, Carlos Menem, to Spain for college. After the younger Menem was elected governor of La Rioja Province in March 1973, he implemented a number of reforms advocated by activists for the poor, rural majority, particularly those recommended by Bishop Enrique Angelelli.
The elections were held on May 14, 1989. Menem won by a wide margin, and became the new president. He was scheduled to take office on December 10, but inflation levels took a turn for the worse, growing into hyperinflation, causing public riots.[7] The outgoing president Alfonsín resigned and transferred power to Menem five months early, on July 8. Menem's accession marked the first time since Hipólito Yrigoyen took office in 1916 that an incumbent president peacefully transferred power to an elected successor from the opposition.[8]
Between 1983 and 1989 its leader, Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín, was the first democratically elected president after the military dictatorship headed by generals such as Jorge Videla, Leopoldo Galtieri and Reynaldo Bignone. Alfonsín was succeeded by Carlos Saúl Menem of the Peronist Justicialist Party (PJ).
A native of Nonogasta in La Rioja Province, Yoma was married for twenty-five years (1966–91) to Carlos Saúl Menem, who served as President of Argentina from July 1989 to December 1999. They had two children, a son, Carlos Saúl Facundo Menem Yoma, who died in a helicopter crash in 1995, and a daughter, Zulema María Eva Menem, who, starting in 1991, fulfilled the role of First Lady at formal occasions for the remaining eight years of her father's presidency.
Menem ran in 2003 and won the greatest number of votes, 24%, in the first round of the April 27, 2003 presidential election; but votes were split among numerous parties. Under the 1994 amendment, a presidential candidate can win outright by winning 45% of the vote, or 40% if the margin of victory is 10 or more percentage points. This set the stage for Argentina's first-ever ballotage between Menem and second-place finisher, and fellow Peronist, Néstor Kirchner, who had received 22%, was scheduled for May 18. However, by that time, Menem had become very unpopular. Polls predicted that he faced almost certain defeat by Kirchner in the runoff. Most polls showed Kirchner taking at least 60 percent of the vote, and at least one poll showed Menem losing by as many as 50 points.[47][48] To avoid a humiliating defeat, Menem withdrew his candidacy on May 14, effectively handing the presidency to Kirchner.[49]