News Analysis: Argentina's first-ever presidential runoff shows new challenges for LatAm's left

Argentina's presidential elections Sunday headed for a surprising runoff for the first time in the country after a virtual tie in the first round, posing great challenges for the populist center-left party.

Front-runner Daniel Scioli, candidate of the ruling Front for Victory which has governed the country for the past 12 years, garnered a scant 2-percent advantage over his pro-business rival Mauricio Macri, ending the party's glorious track record of sweeping elections in the first round, as it did in the previous two elections.

The center-left is also suffering in other Latin American countries.

In Brazil last year, left-leaning Workers' Party candidate Dilma Rousseff bitterly fought her right-wing rival Aecio Neves as she sought reelection and won the runoff with a slight 3-percent advantage.

Uruguay's leftist party also became mired in a runoff as it struggled to continue its rule.

The recent runoffs in Latin America show elections are no longer easy wins for the ruling left.

With a growing middle class, the community of voters is undergoing tremendous changes these years.

The voting intention of the growing middle class, which has just emerged from poverty, is easily influenced by the economic environment and economic policies, including inflation and soaring prices, which further contribute to the current runoffs in the region.

Leftist ruling parties in Latin America have made great progress in the past decade in reducing poverty, promoting social equity and improving people's living standards.

According to a World Bank report released in 2012, the region's middle class registered a 50-percent increase from 2003 to 2009.

The left in Latin America came to power under favorable global conditions for bulk commodities, when trade was the leading engine of economic growth.

However, the global financial crisis put an end to the prosperity of bulk commodity. Various economic problems thus arose, such as a lack of structural diversity, over-reliance on exports and insufficient domestic motives for economic growth.

Economic downturn, inflation, currency devaluation and surging interest rates are now hitting Latin American countries, leading to deep domestic discontent.

The preliminary results of Argentina's presidential election show the wavering attitudes among the middle class, who benefited from the policies of the ruling party but remain dissatisfied with soaring prices and insufficient public services.

In the past two years, 10 Latin American countries held presidential elections and the leftist parties were reelected, showing they still maintain the lead over other parties.

However, problems regarding national governance cannot be ignored, especially when government pension systems and social welfare programs drain resources from infrastructure, human resources and productive investment.

"A possible outcome is that both the left and right will lean towards a middle road, taking into account both economic and social policies, in striving to maximize their supporters," said Olivier Dabene, a political science professor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies in his book "The Left in Latin America, 1998-2012." Endi