MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine congress holds special sessions in memory of ex President Kirchner

Former Unasur secretary general Nestor Kirchner

The Argentine Congress held Wednesday evening special sessions in memory of former deputy, Justicialist Party leader, and Union of South American Nations Secretary-General, Néstor Kirchner.

After the demise of former president and national deputy Néstor Kirchner rocked the whole political scenario, Edgardo Depetri was sworn in to replace the seat Kirchner left vacant.

During his turn to speak, the head of leftist Proyecto Sur party, Deputy Fernando 'Pino' Solanas, remembered the former president as a “very strong political rival that took the rides of the country under a critical situation, while his decisions brought the economy back to life.”

Furthermore, Solanas indicated Kirchner's administration “turned many lights on, but also left some dark shadows,” thus stressing the existence differences between them both.

Solanas also praised what the former president did for the Mercosur regional bloc, as well the alliances set with South American countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, and Venezuela.

To finish, the Proyecto Sur head proudly said that “Kirchner's most courage act was when he said no to US President George Walker Bush over the latter's ALCA Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement during the 2005 Americas Summit held in Mar del Plata.”

The special session was requested by Victory Front bloc head Agustín Rossi. However, on the same day, the opposition had requested to hold another special session to discuss several controversial issues such as the Indec national statistics bureau reform. Not surprisingly, the sessions overlap generated conflict between the pro and anti-government sectors.

The Argentine Senate also joined the congressional duty of honouring former president Néstor Kirchner's commitment as it held a special session as a way of paying homage to the late politician.

The opposition UCR Radical Party and the Victory Front pro-government party were the ones requesting the special honour session to be carried out.