MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina: Election date to stay where it is

The government of President Nestor Kirchner is not planning to bring next year's presidential elections forward, Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernández said yesterday.

News reports had said yesterday the government might call the presidential vote earlier than in October as initially announced because it feared the country could suffer an energy shortage next winter that would harm the ruling Victory Front's electoral chances.

"No, we are not considering that," said Fernández, asked about the possibility of staging the election earlier.

The government has said the election would be held on the last Sunday in October, but it hasn't yet issued a decree setting the date.

Kirchner has not said whether he will seek office but the opposition takes for granted that either he or his wife, Senator Cristina Fernández, will run.

Former economy minister Roberto Lavagna, seen as a possible contender for the presidency, said yesterday the government should clear all doubts about the election date by signing the decree.

"The government should issue a decree calling the election for October 28, 2007, in order to clear the doubts and so that everybody knows we are 14 months away from the vote," said Lavagna in an interview with a Cordoba daily.

Lavagna, who served as Kirchner's minister until last November, is working on a multi-party coalition likely to challenge the ruling.

Victory Front next year. On Saturday, a convention of the splintered Radical Party decided it would seek electoral alliances with other opposition groups, a move apparently chosen so as to throw its weight behind Lavagna. Buenos Aires Herald