ARGENTINA: President Is Hands-Down Favourite

•  buenos aires
• Thursday, January 13, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Kirchner was the leader of the centre-left wing of the Justicialista (Peronist) Party, the Frente para la Victoria, which he and his wife founded. 'Her image had been improving throughout 2010, but when Kirchner died (on Oct. 27), there was a major outpouring of sympathy,' Mabel Fornoni, with the Management and Fit polling company, told IPS. 'And now that things are getting back to normal, the overall balance is positive.'

Management and Fit's latest poll was led by Fernández, with 47.3 percent of respondents giving her a rating of good or very good. She was followed by the governor of the eastern province of Buenos Aires, Daniel Scioli, who belongs to the same faction of the governing party. Last year, Scioli had not ruled out running for president in the Oct. 23 elections, even if it meant competing with Fernández or with Kirchner himself, who was also seen as a likely candidate.

But since Kirchner died of a heart attack, Scioli, his former vice president who now governs the most populous province in the country, has adopted a lower profile and said he will accept whatever post Fernández needs him in. Approval of the government in general jumped after the president was widowed, before flattening out. But during her mourning process, she has become more popular than she ever was before she lost her husband and political partner.

Shortly before Kirchner's death, the president's approval ratings stood at 34 percent, while 60.3 percent of those polled by Management and Fit disapproved of her. A month later, those percentages stood at 57.4 and 31.1 percent, respectively. Currently, 49.1 percent approve of the government, and 42.7 percent disapprove. In other words, Fernández has gained support despite conflicts that broke out in December, including labour protests and occupations of land by squatters, as well as fuel shortages and blackouts during a heat wave.

The president has not yet indicated whether she will run for reelection, although her associates and supporters insist that she is the party's best candidate. The Equis polling company also shows her leading the polls with 44 percent voting intention.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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