MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Kirchner president and Menem appeals for unity.

For the first time ever a Patagonian born is Argentina's next president. Santa Cruz province governor Nestor Kirchner will be taking office May 25 after former president Carlos Menem finally explained in a national broadcast at prime time why he has stepping down from the May 18 run off, but certainly not abandoning politics.

"Conditions are not right for voting in the May 18 second round", said Mr. Menem claiming that it all started when the current administration of caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde "frustrated open and simultaneous primary elections in all political parties, which had been approved by Congress".

Mr. Menem argued that this forced the Peronist ruling party, for the first time in history, to run with three different tickets, and in the second round "contrary to the spirit of the Constitution the whole of the Argentine electorate is being forced to participate in a party primary", and not to choose between candidates of the two most voted parties, the essence of the ballotage system.

"Under current circumstances the country has been imposed with a false option, of which a vast sector of Argentine public opinion feels excluded", he stressed.

Mr. Menem also claimed that since leaving office, (1999) the succeeding government of the Alliance and the current transition administration launched a systematic defamation and slander campaign against him that trapped an important sector of public opinion in the "moral violence" of having to choose between a candidate they "hardly know and distrust", whose proposals and programs they don't necessary adhere, and impeding the victory of another presidential candidate.

The frustrated candidate said that all his political life has been dedicated to search for "national unity", as was proved during his ten years in office elected by the people, therefore "in this context there's ample evidence that our society is extremely fragmented", and "I therefore consider convenient my non participation in the second round".

However Mr. Menem was quick to immediately commit his full support and collaboration with the new constitutional authorities to ensure the stability of the democratic system, recovered in 1983, and contribute to recreate a true climate of national unit.

The former president also warned that the main threat to Argentine democracy is the danger of a lack of governance emphasizing the incoming government has the "urgent and priority task of searching for consensus and overcoming old confrontations". The complete failure of the Alliance government of Mr. De la Rúa was mentioned as a tragic and full example of this phenomenon.

The new government "will have to show authority without hatred or grudges, inspired in the deep sense of historical responsibility it will be undertaking, with national interest always above any ideological or partisan consideration", underlined Mr. Menem.

Earlier in the afternoon elected president Kirchner who was waiting for the official step down announcement from his rival, called Mr. Menem "a coward" and accused him of "running away".

Mr. Kirchner added that the time of "big corporations" ruling over parties and "buying" political influence was over and insisted that he's his own and will be responsible for the naming of his cabinet. The elected president also accused Mr. Menem of "shooting at the institutions of the Republic", and of "lack of respect towards the electorate".

Caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde who was on an official visit in Uruguay discarded any legitimacy problems for Mr. Kirchner following Mr. Menem's decision, but also pointed out that current circumstances will have the elected president working hard to achieve "a national consensus" to address the many problems and tough decisions Argentina has ahead.

Mr. Menem won the much disputed and fragmented first presidential round on April 27 with just over 24% of the vote followed closely by Mr. Kirchner with 22%. The non Peronist candidate, Ricardo López Murphy was third.