MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

K Governors complete Kirchner's presidential ticket

Argentine dissident opposition members proclaimed this Saturday governor Julio Cobos as Cristina Kirchner's ticket companion for the coming October presidential election which according to opinion polls favor the incumbent candidate.

In a political rally in the outskirts of Buenos Aires governors and mayors from opposition Radical party but which are aligned with President Nestor Kirchner, and are identified as the "K" governors, acclaimed Cobos as vice president candidate in the ticket with Mrs. Kirchner. They also approved a document in support of the Kirchner administration's policies and in one of its paragraphs states that former Radical president Raul Alfonsin (1983/89) "attempted an opposition to the hegemonic conservative economic model of the time, which had received a serious pounding in the Malvinas war, but he failed. We believe the administration of President Kirchner is involved in a second attempt to defeat that model". In an improvised speech Mendoza governor Cobos said that the "Radicales are playing an active role in advancing Argentina by helping a government which is the architect of vital changes for the country". "Belonging to a party does not mean obeying a bureaucratic structure, but rather its heart and convictions", he added. Cobos and the K governors are involved in a dispute with party officials whom they accuse of not having acted as "leaders" who conduct, but simply as "bureaucrats giving orders". K governors claim the party leadership banned primaries for the coming October elections: "they didn't listen to the governors, mayors and rank and file". The rally which proclaimed Cobos was supported by several governors and mayors. Although the provinces involved are not numerical significant, they have had an important impact in helping opposition members and voters cross the line in support of President Kirchner. In related news the Argentine government announced a project expected to benefit 600.000 tax payers, by raising the income tax minimum and increasing family deductions. The project which is forecasted to have a swift approval in Congress where the Kirchner administration has a comfortable majority is estimated will cost the Treasury the equivalent of 470 million US dollars. "The presidential decision consolidates salaries' recovery, will help domestic demand and improve tax fairness", said Economy minister Miguel Peirano. Favorable international conditions for commodities plus the Kirchner administration vigorous promotion of domestic demand have helped Argentina grow at an average 9% for the last four years with a comfortable primary budget surplus which the president has openly used to rally political support.