Argentinian First Lady Claims Poll Victory

Argentina is on course for its first elected woman president after Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner declared victory in yesterday's election.

With results announced at more than four-fifths of polling stations, the first lady - wife of President Nestor Kirchner - had about 44% of the vote, compared with 23% for her chief rival Elisa Carrio and 17% for the former economy minister, Roberto Lavagna.

Barring an upset, Mrs Kirchner will avoid a run-off and be declared the country first elected female head of state.

"We have won amply," she said. "But this, far from putting us in a position of privilege, puts us instead in a position of greater responsibilities and obligations."

If confirmed, a victory for the lawyer-turned-senator will be as much a triumph for her husband, as she ran on his record of reviving the economy after Argentina's 2001 financial meltdown.

Mrs Kirchner is expected to maintain left wing populist economic policies, such as price controls, and to inject glamor and energy into Argentine diplomacy. Her husband, dour and proudly provincial, loathed foreign trips but at home was feted for overseeing a dramatic recovery from a crippling economic crisis in 2001.

One challenge will be to maintain good relations with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, who has poured billions of dollars into Argentina's economy, while improving ties with Washington.

Kirchner supporters did not wait for the official results. The campaign headquarters on the 17th floor of the Intercontinental hotel in Buenos Aires soon turned into a party. Drummers bussed in from Bajo Flores, a poor district of the city, gathered on the street outside for what promised to be a night-long fiesta.

Yesterday's apparent victory sealed a remarkable pact between the first couple. Mr Kirchner would almost certainly have won a second term after delivering rapid growth and populist policies, which most Argentines want to continue.

Instead, he stepped down in favour of his wife and mobilized the Peronist machine - and state resources - behind her candidacy. There is speculation he will run again after her term, perpetuating a Kirchner dynasty.

"The president chose her because she's the best candidate," said Felipe Martinez, 39, one of the revelers outside the Kirchner headquarters. "Today we've seen that the people have put their confidence in her. We expect her to continue in the same path."

Mr Martinez was dressed as a penguin in honor of the first couple's Patagonian power base. Mr Kirchner's nickname is the Penguin. The couple's success has been dubbed March of the Penguins.

The first lady, who is a 54-year-old mother of two and veteran politician in her own right, has been compared with Eva Peron and Hillary Clinton.

Unlike the US Democrats' front runner, however, she has not had to campaign hard, debate with rivals or spell out policies on inflation, crime and a looming energy crisis - serious problems that could quickly sour her presidency.

With her victory seemingly inevitable in a crowded field of 13 rivals, Mrs Kirchner's campaign had the aura of a coronation. She shunned debates with rivals, largely ignored the media and held few rallies.

"We don't know what plans she has. She hasn't said anything," said Mr Lavagna, who came third, according to exit polls.

The country's 27.1 million registered voters are obliged to vote, ensuring massive turnout, but the campaign was marred by widespread apathy, which gave no sense that the first election of a female president was historic.

Mrs Kirchner will be the most powerful woman in Latin America as President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, the region's only other female head of state, heads a much smaller economy.

After casting her ballot in the morning Mrs Kirchner told reporters that she savored voting because of the 1976-1983 dictatorship. "I'm part of a generation that grew up in a country in which nobody could say anything. So we value this in a very special way," she said.