ARGENTINA: Former Argentinian President Mr Carlos Menem continued his remarkable political resurrection yesterday as electoral authorities ratified his first-round victory in Sunday's presidential elections, writes Michael McCaughan in Buenos Aires.
Mr Menem secured 24 per cent of votes, just ahead of Peronist Party rival Mr Nestor Kirchner, who won 22 per cent in a ballot marked by a significant 80 per cent turnout. The fact that the elections passed off calmly was seen as equally important as the result itself.
The splintered Peronist Party fielded three candidates for the first presidential vote since economic ruin and popular protests forced President Fernando de la Rua out of office in December 2001. Mr De la Rua had to be escorted from his polling booth by armed police on Sunday as protesters jostled him and screamed "Traitor".
The former president's centre-right UCR party suffered its worst result, winning just 2 per cent of voter preferences.
Abandoned by his own party, Mr Menem created the Front for Loyalty as a political vehicle while rival Mr Kirchner formed the Front for Victory, backed by current president Mr Eduardo Duhalde.
While Mr Menem scored the highest single vote in the first round, he faces an uphill battle to win the run-off next month as rival Peronists and opposition parties are almost certain to call on supporters to vote against the man held responsible for the nation's economic collapse.
Mr Kirchner immediately called on the defeated candidates to form a "national, popular and progressive" alliance to defeat Mr Menem's hopes of a third period in office.
The run-off will be a plebiscite on Mr Menem's historic record with voters recalling rapid economic growth during his first period in office (1989-94), followed by an economic tailspin during his second period between 1995 and 1999.
The votes won by third- and fourth-placed candidates Mr Ricardo Lopez Murphy and Ms Elisa Carrio, 17 per cent and 14 per cent respectively, are likely to be directed toward Mr Kirchner, giving him a strong start to the next leg of the campaign, which concludes on May 18th.
"Victory in the second round is totally guaranteed," announced an upbeat Mr Menem who referred to himself as "president-elect" and described the run-off as a formality.
"I voted for the lesser of 19 evils," said Mr José Lopez Moreno, referring to the broad range of candidates on offer.
"Finally Argentina has the opportunity to vote between two clear options," a confident Mr Kirchner told the media yesterday, "one model offers exclusion and debt, the other will bring work and stability, values which belong to no one party or candidate."