MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“The Kirchners and their model are taking us back to the explosive 2001”

Cristina beware of the June 28 and day after syndrome

Following on fear tactics, Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner warned that if in the coming June mid term elections the government looses its majority “we’ll be back at the explosive Argentina of 2001”.

“All the bills which have transformed the lives of Argentines in the last six years were achieved with our Congressional majority, and were voted against, every one of them, by the opposition”, said Mrs. Kirchner during the signing of public works accords at Government House on Wednesday.

However one of the leading opposition candidates for the Lower House and former Central Bank president Alfonso Prat Gay said that it was precisely “Nestor Kirchner and his policies that are taking us back to 2001”.

“Next June 28th what is at stake is the chance to continue with this model and country project, but also stability and democratic quality”, underlined Mrs. Kirchner insisting on the fear card about changes in the middle of a storm which was launched by her husband former president Nestor Kirchner.

However Prat Gay ridiculed the argument of the explosive 2001 (with an absent president, fleeing capital and difficulties to pay the foreign debt), because he said “now we have an absent lady president, since who rules is her husband; 25 billion US dollars have left Argentina in the last 12 months and paying the debt is becoming increasingly difficult, otherwise we wouldn’t be exposed to huge tax increases”.

The former Central Bank president went further and argued that if the “Kirchner model is equivalent to the current social situation” we must change it immediately, because now “we have 14 million poor and 4 million indigent Argentines”.

Mrs. Kirchner also criticized political analyst Mariano Grondona who allegedly said that the current administration can’t last another 2 and a half years, “since it can’t reach 2011 because there is a June 28, June 29 and a vice-president”, in direct reference to Julio Cobos who has become one of the most trusted political figures of the country.

The president also criticized the opposition and challenged their performance and projects: “which is the alternative model? What would they do in the current global situation? What would be their financial, monetary, labour policies, what about industry protection and job stability?”

But Prat Gay was also caustic in his comments, “Argentina faces no governance risk, there’s an almost certain chance that the government could loose control of maybe one or both houses, and this is very good for the country and for democracy”.