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Argentine First Lady wins presidential poll

Buenos Aires (ARGENTINA): Argentina’s First Lady, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has won the country’s presidential election. With most of the ballots counted, Ms Kirchner secured an unassailable lead with 44.6 per cent of the votes. She needed 40 per cent of the vote, with a lead of more than 10 per cent over her nearest rival, to win outright.

Her nearest rival, former lawmaker Elisa Carrio, admitted defeat, trailing on 22.6 per cent of the vote.

Ms Kirchner will succeed her husband, Nestor Kirchner, and become Argentina’s first elected female President.

“We have won by a large margin,” the 54-year-old Senator told cheering supporters in a speech broadcast live on television hours after polls closed on Sunday.

With her husband on stage with her, applauding her words, Ms Kirchner made special mention “of the man who is at my side today, and who has been my companion all my life,” and blew him a kiss.

In the lead-up to the elections, which she entered as the solid favourite, she emphasised her husband’s presidential record more than her own two decades in politics as a lawmaker.

Mr Kirchner (57), enjoys widespread popularity for having overseen an impressive turnaround in Argentina’s economy during his four-year mandate. When he came in, the country was still in a poor state after a 2001 economic collapse that saw it become the biggest-ever sovereign debt defaulter. Since then, the economy has grown nearly 50 per cent and unemployment has halved. — Agencies

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