MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

As Cristina Fernandez evolves favourably, debate targets acting-president Boudou

Buenos Aires City mayor Macri called for “moderation” in public discourse

While Argentine presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro confirmed that President Cristina Fernández “evolves favourably” and is “in good spirits”, the political debate on Wednesday has centred on Vice-president and acting president Amado Boudou whom the opposition argue should not lead the country given his questionable credentials and mounting legal problems

“In the first day of the post-surgery period, the President of the Nation, Dr. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, evolves favourably without complications. She shows normal range vital parameters. She continues under strict medical control by the professionals of the Institute of Neuroscience and of the Fundación Favaloro Multivalent Unit, and by physicians Luis Buonomo and Marcelo Ballesteros from the Presidential Medical Unity,” said the report read out by Scoccimarro, with the promise of another announcement on Thursday at the same time.

Meantime as Kirchnerism sought to dispel all doubts about Vice-President Boudou’s credentials as Argentina’s institutional head of state during President Cristina Fernández recovery, opposition leaders fired at his reputation at will. The message, regardless of the political alignment of the critics, seemed to be loud and clear: Boudou should not be responsible for leading Argentina.

“Can we afford to have a vice-president like this one?” wondered Peronist lawmaker and opposition Renewal Front (FR) candidate Felipe Solá on FM Latina radio station in perhaps the harshest criticism of the temporary president.

“We better start rallying with a new motto: ‘A miracle for Boudou’. He is not capable of ruling; just of riding a motorcycle,” he added in a reference to the vice-president. Boudou was photographed riding a motorbike in Brazil before Cristina Fernández health condition was made public.

In the new political scenario, parties are reviewing their strategies ahead of the midterm elections on October 27. FR leader and Tigre Mayor Sergio Massa even recommended toning down the campaign rhetoric and called for a meeting to unify their strategy.

Although Massa shares a “pragmatic alliance” in Buenos Aires province, Buenos Aires City Mayor Mauricio Macri questioned Solá’s words about Boudou describing them as “a inappropriate joke for this moment”, and called for “moderation” in public discourse.

“We have to be institutionally careful because it is not an easy time. Divisions that may aggravate the climate should not prevail. We hope Cristina Fernández gets better as soon as possible,” Macri told state-run news agency Télam.

Buenos Aires City Public Affairs Under Secretary Álvaro González, a member of Macri’s PRO party, used academic talk to discredit Boudou. González made a difference between “legality” and “morality.” González said that Boudou was legally fit to run the country, but he lacked moral standing due to court probes into alleged corruption.

“There are public statements that express republican immaturity,” said Lower House head Julián Dominguez while calling on all parties in Argentina “to respect the National Constitution” on the eve of the 30th anniversary of democracy, when elections ended the dark years of dictatorship on October 30, 1983.

“There is a Constitution that stipulates the mechanism to ensure the effective exercise of the presidency in case of illness and sets out clearly that, under those circumstances, command will be exercised by the vice-president,” he affirmed.

Philosopher Ricardo Forster, who is a close advisor of Cristina Fernandez and is running in the fourth slot in the Victory Front’s (FpV) congressional ticket, attacked journalists.

“There is a very sick part of our society that includes many journalists who have no limits. They wished the worst for President Cristina Fernández, even her death.”