Buenos Aires, November 23 (teleSUR-RHC)-- In a hard fought presidential race in Argentina, ruling party candidate Daniel Scioli lost to right-wing opposition challenger Mauricio Macri in a run off vote.  The country's electoral body said that Macri had 51.44 percent of the votes and Scioli had 48.56 percent, with returns in from 99 percent of polling stations.

In his speech conceding defeat, Scioli said: “The people have chosen an alternative.”  And Scioli added: “I have defended my ideas and our achievements with great conviction, (but) the results show a definitive tendency.” 

After Scioli's concession speech, Macri addressed the nation and thanked his supporters, vowing to introduce sweeping reforms.  "Argentineans know that the country we dream of, we have to build together ... We have to build an Argentina with zero poverty, we have to confront drug smuggling," he said.

Incumbent President Cristina Fernandez has congratulated Macri on his victory and said she will hold an official meeting with him on Tuesday.

On the streets of Argentina, Scioli supporter Maria Rosa Soria said the defeat was a bad sign for the nation.  “It's a real setback for the country,” she told Reuters shortly before the final results came in.

Beyond Argentina, Macri's win has been met with disappointment by Latin America's progressives, and welcomed by the right wing.  The victory for Macri is the first time in Argentina's history the right has taken power through the elections, rather than through a military coup.