Monday, June 29, 2009

Argentine [lower house] Elections

Yesterday was election day in Argentina. Nothing particularly rowdy, exciting or scandalous happened (unlike in other latin american countries this week... the coup d'etat in Honduras primarily comes to mind), however that's not to say that I didn't find the whole experience intriguing. For example:

* The "right-left" divide which I find fairly obvious in both Canadian and American (even European) politics, I did not find so obvious here. During the television debate of main contenders for the seats representing Capital Federal (the city of Buenos Aires), all four candidates used the term "social exclusion" and talked about poverty being a major issue. I wish all Canadian politicians agreed that social exlusion and poverty were main political issues...

* Apparently, making fun of politicians 3 times a week for their personal (not political) attributes is acceptable. Not only acceptable, but the most popular Argentine television show currently is a spoof of "big brother," where comedians dress up like politicians, do ridiculous things (think song and dance numbers and imitate politicians' mannerisms), and then someone gets voted off at the end of each show. In case you were wondering, the President is played by a trans-sexual who wears too much make-up and her husband, the former president, has a fake googly eye. Somehow, I don't find it productive political criticism, but I am willing to admit that I do not yet understand Argentine humour, so perhaps I'm just missing something... and also, as a p.s., it is thought that this show has actually had some influence on voter opinions during this election. huh?

* A community debate was held in one of the villas (urban slums), which I thought was a very progressive and positive event. However, I couldn't help but notice that a) none of the actual candidates were there- just lower members of their political parties there to "represent" them; and b) it was held outside in the evening chill next to a highway, airport, and railway, without a microphone for the first half of the event. Needless to say, I couldn't really hear much.

* One of the official campaining signs I found particularly outrageous (meaning it would have never, ever made an apprearance in Canada, right?!) was: "It's the capitalists who should pay for the economic crisis!" with a smiling picture of the candidate underneath.

* And my final commentary: I noticed on voting day that all polling stations were divided by sex. I'm still on the hunt to figure out why... Any ideas?

I look forward to paying attention to the run-up for the next Canadian election and seeing what kind of quirky details I can notice...

posted by Kathrin  # 3:22 PM

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