Mauricio Macri, 56, has been elected the new president of Argentina in a hotly contested race. Macri, the former Mayor of Buenos Ares, is a strong conservative who wrestled the presidency from the long ruling left leaning party, the Victory Front party. Macri won with 51.4 percent of the national vote with 99 percent of precincts having reported.

The first thing he asked of his fellow Argentinians was is to have patience and to not abandon him. The condition of the country’s economy, he said, was currently unverifiable so it will take him and his team some time to actually figure out what is happening in the Argentinian economy and to make policy recommendations, reports The Wall Street Journal.

He promised Argentina that he will get the country back on the road to fiscal and economic responsibility. Unlike previous administrations that had an all powerful economic minister, President Macri vowed that he would replace that concept with a six-member cabinet level team. He said the team would be assembled over the next couple of weeks.

For the past 12 years, Argentina has been governed by a leftist leaning and centrally minded government that preferred power be wielded by the very few rather than what they perceived as the chaos of the many. The populace seemed to agree with Macri’s vision as Argentina has grown tired of high inflation and a nearly stagnant economy. The ragged condition of the economy has been due to increased government spending under the leftists as well as them having lowered commodities prices. The International Monetary Fund sees Argentina heading into a recession next year.

Macri stated that he wanted to open up the country to more domestic as well as foreign investment. Many supporters feel that Macri and his designated advisors truly understand the importance of Argentina being able to integrate itself into the entire world economy rather than being isolated as it has been in the past.

Prior to being Mayor of Buenos Ares Macri was a hugely successful businessman as well as the owner of one of Argentina’s premier professional soccer teams. Macri said, “We want to have good relations with all countries. We expect to build an international agenda based on cooperation.”