ARGENTINA: First lady expected to become next Argentinian president

Argentines go to the polls to elect a new president but polls suggest the outcome is a foregone conclusion with first lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner the hot favourite. This is the woman expected to be Argentina's next president. It's predicted first lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will make history with a landslide win in Sunday's (October 28) election. In a country that still remembers fondly the mid-20th century populist icon Eva 'Evita' Peron, the first lady has led the race from the word the go. The 54-year-old would become the country's first elected woman president, succeeding her husband. Many Argentines credit President Nestor Kirchner with pulling the country out of a dramatic economic crisis and using growth of eight percent a year to create jobs, raise salaries and expand pension benefits. A longtime senator, Fernandez has been Kirchner's top adviser in his four-year presidency. Voters tired of boom-bust cycles hope she will sustain the bonanza he has overseen, even as high inflation and energy shortages cause concern. The first lady's political beliefs were forged in the country's turbulent 1970s when she was a leftist activist and law student. As she voted in her husband's hometown of Rio Gallegos -- in the southern Patagonia province of Santa Cruz -- she said democratic elections were very close to her heart. She said she grew up in a generation where no-one could decide anything so valued the right to vote. President Nestor Kirchner also cast his vote to decide his successor and could be handing over to this wife. As he left the polling station in Rio Gallegos he said Argentina today would make a great step forward. Early bird voters across the capital Buenos Aires formed lines outside ballot centres, but there were delays as a quarter of people legally obliged to serve in the polling stations failed to turn up. The electoral commission had to call on emergency volunteers to fill the posts. Recent polls show Fernandez with between 39.5 percent and 49.4 percent of votes. Former lawmaker and anti-corruption crusader Elisa Carrio trailed behind, with around 20 percent support. Roberto Lavagna, Kirchner's economy minister until late 2005, was in third place with a maximum of 19 percent. Lavagna made headlines worldwide when he pulled off the biggest debt restructuring ever in 2005, but he is known by Argentines for his lack of charisma on the campaign trail. Visits to factories and shantytowns have not convinced voters he is the man to run the country and polls give him around 19 percent support. He says he's hoping for a good turnout at the polls.. .

ITN Source | October 28, 2007

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