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Reuters

Argentina’s ruling party candidate Daniel Scioli eked out a narrow lead in Sunday’s presidential election, near-complete vote counting showed, but his main rival was virtually neck and neck with him and a run-off election between the pair was inevitable.
"There will be a run-off according to our data based on exit polls," said Marcos Pena, the chief campaign strategist for pro-business opposition candidate Mauricio Macri.
Scioli himself called on the support of undecided voters late Sunday, though he stopped short of acknowledging that would have to face a run-off vote next month.
"I call upon the undecided and independent voters to join this cause," Scioli told thousands of party loyalists in the capital Buenos Aires.
Argentines faced a tense wait for electoral authorities to release the results of the vote. To win outright in the first round, a candidate needs 45 per cent of votes or 40 percent and a 10 percentage point lead over the nearest rival.
If they fall short of that, the two leading candidates will face off in a second round next month.
After the counting of votes in 86 per cent of electoral districts, Scioli was leading by 35.9 per cent to Macri's  35.2 per cent.
Scioli is backed by outgoing President Cristina Fernandez and draws support from poorer Argentines who credit her and her late husband and predecessor Nestor Kirchner with an expansive welfare system and hauling the economy out of a devastating 2001-2002 depression.
Pre-election polls showed that Macri, the conservative mayor of Buenos Aires, had better support among the middle-class.
Macri, whose strong overall performance surprised some, is also favoured by foreign investors who are interested in Argentina’s vast energy and metal reserves but are deterred by the stifling controls that Fernandez has placed on the economy.
Fernandez is adored by many poor and working class voters for generous welfare handouts and protectionist policies but reviled by others for heavy handed currency controls and other interventionist moves after a commodities-fuelled boom ended.
Argentina’s next leader will face near-empty liquid reserves in the central bank, a gaping fiscal deficit and high inflation.
The main candidates all propose policy reforms to put growth on a more sustainable footing, but differ on the pace and depth of reform. Scioli has said he will make "gradual" changes.
None of the candidates has called for the sharp fiscal adjustment that some Wall Street investors say is necessary to keep the country from going bust.
A close political ally of centrist candidate Sergio Massa, who was running in third place in pre-election polls, said the candidate’s camp would not comment on the vote’s outcome ahead of reliable results.


Ruling party’s Scioli narrowly leads Argentina presidential vote, but run-off looms

Argentine ruling party presidential candidate Daniel Scioli waves to supporters, next to his wife Karina Rabolini as they walk on stage at the Luna Park stadium in Buenos Aires on Sunday. Photo: AP

End of an era in Argentina as Cristina Kirchner leaves a divisive legacy

Kirchner has broken with Argentina’s 1990s image as a close pal of Europe and the United States. Photo: AFP