Argentine gov't loses congress majority, seeks opposition dialogue

Argentina's center-left President Alberto Fernandez called for dialogue with the opposition after Sunday's midterm parliamentary elections, with projections showing his governing coalition has lost control of Congress.

Having already held a minority in the lower house Chamber of Deputies, Fernandez's Frente de Todos (Everyone's Front) coalition looked set to drop from 41 to 35 seats in the 72-member Senate, based on projections with more than 90 percent of votes counted.

"If the numbers are confirmed, effectively we've lost the quorum in the Senate," a government source told.

Ahead of the election there was widespread discontent over an economy hit hard by the Covid pandemic.

Fernandez will now likely be forced to make concessions to the opposition during the last two years of his mandate in order to pass laws or make key appointments, including to the judiciary.

"We need to prioritize national agreements if we want to resolve the challenges we face," said Fernandez in a speech, adding that he would approach opposition groups to try to find common ground on an agenda.

"An opposition that is responsible and open to dialogue is a patriotic opposition," he said, adding that he hoped for cooperation that would be "fruitful, for the general interests of the country."

Nearly half the Chamber of Deputies seats were up for grabs, as well as a third of Senate seats in Sunday's vote.

Interior Minister Wado de Pedro said turnout in the compulsory election was between 71 and 72 percent.