Global Courant 2023-04-21 20:03:10
Alberto Fernandez says he will “hand over the presidential sash” and not seek a second term in October polls.
Argentina’s president has said he will not seek re-election when the South American country goes to the polls later this year, opening a race to lead the ruling Peronist coalition in the vote amid a deepening economic crisis.
In a video message Friday, Alberto Fernandez said that in October he would “hand over the presidential sash to anyone legitimately elected at the polls by popular vote” and would not seek a second term.
The Peronists, Argentina’s main political force, are reeling in polls with inflation over 100 percent and dwindling dollar reserves, with power struggles between factions over who should be the presidential nominee.
Center-left Fernandez, who took office in late 2019, acknowledged in the seven-and-a-half minute video that “it’s clear we haven’t achieved everything we set out to do” during his administration.
He said he now wants to “focus my efforts, my dedication and my heart on solving the problems of Argentines”.
Internal disputes in the ruling coalition have erupted, and allies of Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner have been calling for months for Fernandez not to seek re-election so that they can better design an election strategy ahead of the August primary.
Fernandez has taken a dip in the polls as Argentina has been in an economic slump for years, with more than 50 percent of children living in poverty and a rapidly rising annual inflation rate of more than 100 percent.
According to a March poll by Giacobbe & Asociados, a local consultancy, about seven in ten Argentines view Fernandez in a negative light.
Only 10 percent have a positive view of the president, the poll shows.
Fernandez’s decision not to seek re-election comes at the end of a week in which local currencies have plummeted in financial markets and government bond prices have fallen.
“The economic context put him under too much pressure,” says Mariel Fornoni, director of Management & Fit. Fornoni said “internal pressure” had forced Fernandez’s hand, although in reality with his low approval rating he never had much chance of winning.
“Alberto Fernandez pulls himself out of a race he was never really in.”
