MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lavagna's spotlight irritates Kirchner's administration

Argentine former Minister of Economy Roberto Lavagna who is increasingly been signalled as a possible presidential hopeful, warned Wednesday that President Nestor Kirchner's administration was increasingly tempted to easily “grant subsidies and investments which are not a priority” for Argentina's development.

Although Mr. Lavagna insisted that the Argentine economy basics are "solid", he also underlined the need to pay more attention to the "legal institutional structure" and to advance with clear "rules of the game".

Addressing a gathering of businessmen linked to the building and real estate industries in Buenos Aires, the former minister said that a vital question to discuss is "how much government involvement should public services have in Argentina".

If forced to choose between involvement in "primary, secondary schooling and technology transfer, or a government supplier of pipes for sewage, I will always prefer government in education issues", he added.

Some may believe that they prefer the Post Office, Waterworks in the hands of government and not education, "but my personal opinion is education, with all other services in private hands".

Mr. Lavagna also criticized what the described as "friends' capitalism", because there's great temptation to manipulate "privatization processes from government".

Public opinion must support a national project that understands "that wealth must be created, productivity is crucial as well as investment for any long term sustained development", pointed out the former minister.

However on the issue of his presidential candidacy for October 2007 election, strongly promoted by opposition groups aligned with former presidents Eduardo Duhalde and Ricardo Alfonsín, Mr Lavagna was rather cautious.

"I'm still an economist. The rest we shall see".

But he did take advantage of the occasion to reply to Congressmen faithful to President Kirchner who accused him of abandoning the ship "when some of the economy's variables were beginning to falter".

"I never left, I was asked to resign and leave, and that's what I did. That is how things are done in serious countries, and I even helped in all possible ways with the transition period", said Lavagna.

The former Economy minister and architect of Argentina's recovery from the default and melting of the economy in 2001/02 has been meeting regularly with Congress members belonging to the Radical party and dissident Justicialistas faithful to former president Duhalde.

Although President Kirchner has yet to announce his re-election bid, his stalwarts have reacted with offensive language towards the possibility of a Lavagna candidacy and have warned that if this path is followed, "the electoral calendar has been advanced at least twelve months".