MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

October's presidential ticket: Mrs. Kirchner and a “K” governor

Sen. Fernandez, Pte. Kirchner and Gov. Cobos

An Argentine dissident opposition governor but aligned with the current administration will complete the presidential ticket for next October which as announced over the weekend will be headed by the First Lady, Senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

The governor from the province of Mendoza is Julio Cobos, who belongs to the Radical Party, which has lost several regional leaders to President Kirchner's "plural confluence" political project. The presidential ticket, Senator Kirchner and Governor Cobos, according to Casa Rosada sources, is scheduled to be presented in a political rally next August 9. However the candidacy of Mrs Kirchner will be officially formalized in La Plata, capital of her native province of Buenos Aires next July 19 in a rally with the participation of her husband President Nestor Kirchner together with the so called "K" governors and mayors aligned with the presidential political project. "We're prepared to become the ticket companion of Senator Cristina Kirchner as long as we have the institutional support from our sector", said governor Cobos, when asked on Monday in Mendoza if he was going to be part of the presidential ticket of the incumbent "plural confluence". Cobos is to be formally proclaimed by his supporters in a rally organized for July 28 in a city yet to be determined of the province of Buenos Aires. "Once the support for the vice presidency has been defined, we'll probably make an official launching of the full ticket sometime in August", said Cobos who leads the group of Radical governors who supports Kirchner. The official launching according to the government news agency Telam is scheduled for next August 9. Cristina Kirchner/Cobos will be the "plural confluence" ticket which brings together the Kirchner supporters and the "K" governors from the provinces of Mendoza, Santiago del Estero, Rio Negro and Corrientes. The last three have been promoting Cobos to the vice presidency since late 2006. The political project of President Kirchner is also supported by "K" mayors in several Buenos Aires province cities, such as San Isidro, Mar del Plata and Vicente Lopez President Kirchner launched his "plural confluence" project last year on May 25th, one of the main celebrations of the Argentine calendar, in the famous Plaza de Mayo and again this year but in the province of Mendoza, in a massive rally next to Cobos and his wife Senator Cristina Fernandez. Kirchner surprised everybody when at the end of his speech in Mendoza he held up the arms of his wife and governor Cobos. Last June 25 in a meeting in Buenos Aires with the "K" governors the president said the presidential ticket announcement for October's election would be defined in July. Public opinion polls show that any of the Kirchner's, the current president (if he runs for reelection) or his wife, at this day should have no difficulties in winning next October. Kirchner all along had said that the incumbent candidate for October would be a "he penguin or a she penguin", as the elected officials from the extreme south province of Santa Cruz, in Patagonia, (the president's turf) are identified by the press.