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Poll favourite evokes echo of Evita

Buenos Aires (ARGENTINA): Cristina Kirchner (54), wife of Argentinean President Nestor Kirchner, is the runaway favourite to win the presidential poll in the country voting for which took place on Sunday. She has been embraced as the heir to Evita Peron and, bar an asteroid wiping out South America, pollsters say, she will become Argentina’s first elected female head of state.

The gold shoes gleamed in the sunlight as she skipped over potholes and rubbish to greet supporters in San Justo, one of the roughest neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires. It was one of the final rallies in her campaign and the throng surged forward, straining to touch her. Bodyguards flinched as a forest of hands reached out. A chant filled the air: “Cristina! Cristina!”

To the inhabitants of this dilapidated slum, the visitor, immaculate in a peach dress, was a distillation of glamour and hope. Like Argentina’s previous female political icon, her first name had become a battle-cry. “Cristina represents our best traditions,” beamed Nicolas Salerno, of Movimento Evita, an umbrella group that has embraced Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner as the heir to Evita Peron. “She will redistribute the wealth.”

Argentina voted for a new President on Sunday and Cristina Kirchner is the runaway favourite.

“From the moment we started to measure public opinion, we’ve never had a hint that Cristina wouldn’t win in the first round,” said Fabian Perechodnik, director of Poliarquia, a political consultancy. Almost 41 per cent of voters say they intend to vote for the First Lady, according to its poll.

Her nearest opponent, Elisa Carrio, trails at 14.5 per cent, making a second round unlikely. Under voting rules the runner-up must be within 10 per cent of the winning candidate to force a run-off. Ms Kirchner, a lawyer before becoming a Senator, is a veteran politician in her own right, but is cruising on the strength of her husband’s record. When he took power in 2003 the country was traumatised by the financial collapse of a year earlier.

A £50-billion debt default wiped out savings, closed factories and sent unemployment rocketing to 24 per cent. The nation was on its knees. Four years later, the scene is transformed. Annual growth of 8 per cent has revived businesses, jobs and confidence.

Mr Kirchner would almost certainly win if he ran again, but for reasons which remain unclear, he has stepped aside for his spouse. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2007

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