President's wife poised to take power in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Saturday (AFP) - Argentina holds a presidential election tomorrow that is expected to see first lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner take over from President Nestor Kirchner. Fernandez has been widely compared to Hillary Clinton, a former first lady, who is seeking the US presidency.

Argentine presidential candidate, First Lady and Senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner waves to supporters during the final campaign rally of Frente Para La Victoria party at La Matanza, Buenos Aires province, Argentina. AFP

But, if successful, Fernandez will be Argentina's first elected woman president. Isabel Peron, third wife and vice-president to three-time head of state Juan Peron, became president in 1974 on her husband's death but was ousted less than two years later in a military coup.

Fernandez, 54, is known across the country as “Cristina”, or sometimes “Queen Cristina” because of her designer clothes and haughty manner. But she has pledged to pursue the leftist and nationalist policies of her husband. She faces 13 rivals in the vote but all the polls released before campaigning ended suggested she will win most ballots from the 27 million registered electors for whom voting is compulsory.

“Some of our dreams have started to be realized, and now we need to work on the remaining dreams,” she said in her last campaign speech Thursday. Kirchner -- who has not explained why he is stepping aside to support his wife's bid rather than seek re-election himself -- is expected to play an influential behind-the-scenes role if he swaps roles to become first man. He oversaw a turnaround in Argentina's economy that earned him widespread popularity.

His policies of public spending and price controls have reversed much of the damage wrought in 2001, when the South American nation became the biggest defaulter of sovereign debt in history and was forced to unhitch its peso from the dollar.

Now, however, cracks are starting to appear in the recovery. Inflation is growing and estimated to be running at 20 percent this year, growth has slowed, and foreign investment is sparse.

Roberto Lavagna, a former economy minister fired by Kirchner after putting the recovery on track, is running for president too, but polls put him in distant third-place, just behind Elisa Carrio, a center-left politician championing an anti-corruption drive. Eleven other candidates round out the field behind them.