Mauricio Macri was sworn in on Thursday as Argentina's new president. The 56-year old Macri, hailing from one of the richest families of Argentina, won against Daniel Scioli (Victory Front) with a margin of 2.7 percent, the equivalent of fewer than 700,000 votes in a nation of 43 million.
"Our point of encounter will be the truth," Macri said, keeping up with his campaign promises, reports the Wall Street Journal. During his campaign, Marci had repeatedly accused his predecessor, Cristina Kirchner, of lying about government statistics.
The transition was not a smooth one, with the duo at loggerheads as to where the formal ceremony was to take place. It finally took place at the presidential palace, with Federico Pinedo, a lawmaker in Macri's party, serving as acting president and conducting the formalities. Kirchner and members of her party boycotted the event.
"Cristina Kirchner proposes maintaining the polarization that she and her husband engraved into public life in the last 12 years," wrote Carlos Pagni, a political commentator, in the newspaper La Nación on Kirchner's decision to stay away, saying it had an "ideological dimension," reports The New York Times.
"Today a dream is being achieved. I will always be honest with you. And being honest means telling you that the challenges in front of us are enormous," said Macri as he took the oath, reports the Christian Science Monitor.
After receiving a ceremonial scepter and sash at the Casa Rosada, the country's presidential palace, Macri along with his wife Juliana Awada, 41, waved to supporters from a balcony at the palace.
