MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

The Kirchner camp sets out strategy for October’s presidential election

Interior minister Randazzo: the idea is not to have Peronist Party members as main stars of the electoral process

Argentina’s Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo, called on all political parties that would like to support the Victory Front’s presidential candidate next October and be part of the so called “combined-list ballots” to do it without fears or restrictions.

”We want parties to join the combined-list ballots without thinking they would get in trouble”, Randazzo told reporters. Next October Argentines vote for president and a renewal of Congress and President Cristina Fernadez de Kirchner is trying to dilute dependency from the catch-all powerful Peronist movement.

The controversial electoral methodology is being highly criticized by Greater Buenos Aires Peronist district heads as they consider it a way to diminish their power and most of all their electoral chances.

Randazzo emphasized that the government’s idea is “not to have Peronist Party members as the main stars of the electoral process, but to have other political parties joining us.”

Asked whether the President will announce her candidacy or not, the minister said that “We will all have to wait a bit more to announce the President’s candidacy.”

Furthermore, Randazzo revealed that if the Head of State decides herself to seek re-election, she “could pick a non-Peronist candidate for the vice presidential role”, and concluded “despite the bad experience we had with Julio Cleto Cobos, we do not discard having another pluralist ballot in October”.

Vice-President split from Cristina Fernandez and voted against a controversial tax on grain and oilseeds exports which had Argentine farmers blockading the country’s highways and vital commodities trade.