MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Kirchner leads in opinion polls.

With 56 days left for Argentina's crucial April 27 presidential elections, the three ruling Peronist party candidates are leading in opinion polls with Santa Cruz governor Nestor Kirchner at the top with 19,5%, followed by Adolfo Rodríguez Sáa, 17,3% and former president Carlos Menem 15,6%.

According to the latest Ipsos Mora y Araújo poll covering February 21/25 and published in La Nación this is the first time governor Kirchner, who has the full support of the current caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde, manages to take the lead. As to the opposition candidates, leftist populist Eliza Carrió has 15,3% and liberal economist and former minister Ricardo López Murphy, 10,3%.

Ipsos Mora y Araújo defines the situation as a technical draw, "statistically irrelevant" with the electorate concentrating in these five hopefuls. A month ago "other candidates" attracted 16,3% of the electorate, but in February that percentage plummeted to just 2,6% helping the five main options to grow.

However when asked about their perception as to who will be Argentina's next president, 41,9% said Mr. Menem, followed by Mr. Kirchner 17,9%, Mr. Rodríguez Sáa 8,6%, Ms. Carrió 2,7% and López Murphy 1%.

As to the most positive image among presidential candidates, Ms. Carrió comes first with 26%; Mr. Kirchner 23%; Mr. Rodríguez Sáa 22%; Mr. López Murphy 18% and Mr. Menem 15%.

Among political leaders not running Santa Fe governor Carlos Reutemann has the most positive image with 37%; caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde figures with 17% but his wife Hilda Duhalde manages 20%.

Another figure with positive image is Daniel Scioli, a former motor nautical speed ace with hardly any political background who in the nineties was invited by then president Menem to run for Congress and is currently Tourism and Sports Minister. Mr. Scioli figures with a 32% positive image, is probably the most popular minister of the current cabinet, and has now completed the presidential ticket of Mr. Kirchner. Ipsos Mora y Araújo underlines that naming Mr. Scioli as Mr. Kirchner's partner will have a significant public opinion impact and should be picked up in the next poll. Regarding electoral abstention, a phenomenon that prospered during the last three years as frustrated Argentines rejected the political establishment it also seems to be receding. A second opinion poll but from the consulting firm Equis, indicates that electoral abstention which reached a national average of 26% in October 2001, is estimated will experience a considerable reduction, reaching, once the electoral roll is purged, 8% much closer to the historic abstention.