Argentina may be set for female President

Current Argentine President Néstor Kirchner has announced that he will not be seeking re-election in October’s poll – but his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will be standing instead, and polls currently give her 45% of the vote, over 30 points clear of her nearest challenger. Argentina has a slightly complicated two-ballot system for its presidential election, not exactly like the systems used in France, Russia, or Brazil.

Comparisons may be drawn with Eva Perón, and although it should be pointed out that Evita was never actually President, nevertheless she is by far the highest-profile woman leader that Argentina has yet produced. Argentina has in fact already had a female president, Isabel Perón, who took over the reins of power in 1974 after husband Juan Perón’s death.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Kirchners have been described as the Clintons of Argentina, although Kristina’s path to the Casa Rosada currently looks considerably easier than Hillary’s to the White House. However, despite high approval ratings for much of Kirchner’s term since 2003, these are now on the slide, and an article in the International Herald Tribune suggests that the future may not be all plain sailing for his wife.

Paul Maggs “Double Carpet”

Guest Editor

Mike Smithson returns on 16th July

Paul Maggs runs The Election Game – click on the logo to email for more information.