Fernandez defended his file over the past three years, pointing to challenges he confronted, such because the Covid-19 pandemic, the affect of the battle in Ukraine and big public debt.
(Reuters)
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez has introduced that he is not going to stand for reelection in October’s vote — a shock transfer that deepened uncertainty within the crisis-wracked nation.
His centre-left Frente de Todos (Everybody’s Entrance) coalition has but to place ahead a candidate for August’s primaries, with Fernandez declaring within the video announcement on Friday that it must generate a brand new cycle of leaders.
“Subsequent December 10, 2023, is the precise day on which we are going to mark 40 years of democracy. On this present day I’ll hand over the presidential sash to whomever has been legitimately elected by fashionable vote on the polls,” Fernandez mentioned within the clip.
Vice President Cristina Kirchner, who was Argentina’s chief from 2007-15, mentioned on the finish of final 12 months that she wouldn’t stand within the primaries.
That announcement got here shortly after the 70-year-old was convicted of fraud and corruption throughout her presidency — though she has been spared jail by her parliamentary immunity.
Some press reviews have portrayed Economic system Minister Sergio Massa, 50, as a possible candidate.
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Among the many opposition, former president Mauricio Macri (2015-19) has dominated himself out of the operating.
Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Larreta, and Patricia Bullrich, Macri’s former safety minister, have each put themselves ahead for the Juntos por el Cambio (Collectively for Change) opposition coalition.
The information comes amid an financial disaster that has seen inflation soar to nearly 22 p.c within the final three months and greater than one hundred pc over the past 12 months.
It additionally comes with the Argentine peso struggling fixed depreciation in opposition to the US greenback.
Final month, Fernandez passionately defended his file over the past three years, pointing to challenges he confronted such because the Covid-19 pandemic, the affect of the battle in Ukraine, huge public debt and rampant inflation.
Additionally in March, he met with President Joe Biden on the White Home, stressing his nation’s willingness to cooperate with america within the battle in opposition to local weather change, saying that Argentina was going through the worst drought in its historical past.
Argentines head to the polls on October 22, with a second-round runoff slated for November 19 if wanted.
Primaries for each the federal government camp and the opposition will happen on August 13.
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Supply: AFP