MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Cristina Fernandez will not attend Macri's swear-in ceremony on Thursday
“We consider the discussion concluded. President Cristina Fernandez won’t attend Congress under these circumstances”, said Parrilli 
According to the notary-general, Argentina's president-elect officially assumes the presidency when he is sworn in before Congress 
Judge Servini de Cubría must decide whether Cristina Fernández mandate ends Wednesday at midnight and Macri’s begins in the first minute of December 10th. Argentine president Cristina Fernandez will not be attending the swear-in ceremony in Congress on Thursday when president elect Mauricio Macri is set to take office, according to Oscar Parrilli, head of intelligence and one of the closest aides of the Kirchners, “conditions are not given”.
“They are saying she will no longer be the president” said Parrilli on Tuesday afternoon after Federal Prosecutor Jorge Di Lello upheld a precautionary measure filed by the 'Let’s Change' coalition, reaffirming president Cristina Fernández mandate ends Wednesday at midnight while Macri’s mandate begins in the first minute of December 10th.
Di Lello’s decision, which must be revised by electoral judge María Romilda Servini de Cubría, contradicted statements made by the Argentina's Notary-General Natalio Etchegaray, who on Monday assured the head of state would end her mandate and Macri will begin his presidency when the president-elect is sworn in Thursday at noon in Congress.
After a meeting held earlier between Parrilli, the presidency’s secretary-general Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro and PRO officials, the head of Intelligence said the president will not attend the Congress to avoid being accused of “overtaking of public offices.”
“We consider the discussion concluded. She won’t attend Congress under these circumstances and let the president take office when he considers he must do so,” Parrilli said outside the Senate building and warned the judiciary will leave the country without a president for 12 hours, qualifying the situation as “an institutional seriousness.”
”I see no differences between this and a coup,” he fired.
On Monday Notary-General Etchegaray added further confusion to the dispute saying that ”the tradition is that the transfer of the official presidential sash is done in the Pink House... It’s not in the Constitution, but it’s the custom”
Etchegaray, who has assisted every inauguration ceremony since Argentina's return to democracy in 1983 added that it is the president-elect who decides where the ceremony takes place and not the outgoing head of state.
Of the four latest handover ceremonies in Argentina, two took place at the Casa Rosada and the other two at the National Congress.
According to the letter by the notary-general, the president-elect officially assumes the presidency when he is sworn before the National Congress, as set by Article 93 of the Argentine Constitution, and at this exact hour his tenure begins and the outgoing president’s tenure ends. But he also states in the first paragraph of his letter that the outgoing president’s tenure officially ends at 12am on December 10.
The swearing-in before congress is set to take place at 11am this Thursday, December 10, according to the schedule released by the 'Let’s Change' winning coalition last Saturday.
Despite all the bickering about the ceremony, Cristina Fernandez has repeatedly said in public rallies that the ruling Victory Front (FpV) will not hurt the ability of her successor to govern.
“We have the immense responsibility of providing governance to the country” the outgoing president said. “We’re part of a political group that won’t do to the next government what they (opposition groups) did to us. We will not do it”.
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Read all commentsNasty man ( allegedly) shouts at her on the phone and she cracks a hissy fit?
Dec 09th, 2015 - 06:55 am 0For how many years did they let this infantile creature 'run' the country?
She's pouting. Nobody is going to ask her to attend, though - she ran out on her people and is sulking.
Dec 09th, 2015 - 06:58 am 0How childish.
I am sure many bureaucrats and civil servants are pleased to see the going of her.
Argentine Constitution
Dec 09th, 2015 - 07:15 am 0Section 91.- The President of the Nation shall cease to exercise power on the same day his four-years term expires; no event that may have interrupted it shall constitute grounds for completing the term
Nothing about time.
Section 93.- On assuming office, the President and Vice-President shall take oath before the President of the Senate and before Congress assembled, respecting their religious beliefs, to: ”perform with loyalty and patriotism the office of President (or Vice-President) of the Nation, and to faithfully observe the Constitution of the Argentine Nation, and to cause it to be observed.
“Upon assuming office...”. It doesn't say 'to assume office'. Therefore it could be interpreted that the president assumes office at the expiration of the previous president's mandate.... now set at midnight.... and is simply required to affirm an oath. There is nothing making the oath a prerequisite to assuming office. Merely one facet of it.
However, in the absence of both the President and the Vice-President, the succession is regulated by the Law 20,972 (“Acephaly Law”). It provides that the Executive Power must be temporarily exercised (without assuming the title of President) by the provisional President of the Senate. In its absence, by the President of the Chamber of Deputies. In the absence of both, by the President of the Supreme Court.
So there is no power vacuum.
If it takes CFK's histrionics to clarify this and create constitutional case law to interpret the vagueness of the constitution then it will only benefit Argentina going forward.
Argentina lacks many precedents of a transition of presidential power to a different party. Hopefully Macri leaves at least that legacy.
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