Argentina's First Lady
Leads Opinion Polls
Argentina's first lady
Cristina Fernandez holds
a commanding lead over
her rivals in opinion
polls ahead of Sunday's
general elections,
making her a hopeful to
succeed her husband
Nestor Kirchner as
president.
Fernandez, a senator and
leader of the Victory
Alliance Front, enjoyed
40 to 48 percent of
support in recent polls,
more than 20 points
above her closest rival
Elisa Carrio, an
anti-corruption leader,
who garnered only 15.7
to 18.1 percent of
support, local media
reported on Wednesday.
Under Argentine election
laws, a candidate who
wins 45 percent of the
vote, or 40 percent of
the vote with a 10-point
lead over the next
candidate, takes the
presidency in the first
round. If no such lead
is obtained a second
round of voting is held
between the top two
candidates.
In either case, the new
president will take
office for four years on
Dec. 10, ruling 37
million Argentines.
If she succeeds,
Fernandez, 54, will
become Argentina's first
elected female
president, but not the
first woman in charge.
Eva Peron, best known as
Evita and the widow of
general Juan Domingo
Peron, ruled the nation
from 1974 to 1976 after
her husband died.
According to the
national electoral
directorate, some 27.1
million have registered
for Sunday's elections,
which will also choose a
vice-president, half of
the seats in the
260-seat lower
legislative chamber of
deputies and a third of
the seats in the 72-seat
upper chamber, the
Senate.
All three leading
candidates are
left-leaning and promise
to boost the economy,
reduce inflation, foster
social programs and
intensify the fight
against crime.
Fernandez has led the
opinion polls ever since
Kirchner said he would
step aside, but critics
said Kirchner has done
the bulk of campaigning
in Argentina while the
first lady neglected the
nation in favor of
meetings with foreign
investors and heads of
state.
Some 100,000 soldiers
will guarantee security
during the elections and
80 foreign observers
will supervise the
process.
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