Economy plans central to Argentina presidency bids

FROM the icy reaches of Patagonia to tropical jungles in the north, Argentines began voting yesterday for a new president to rescue Latin America’s number three economy from a crisis that plunged millions of middleclass Argentines into poverty.

Voters trickled in as polling stations opened yesterday morning, with 85,000 police and military deployed across the country to ensure this 20-year-old democracy's most closely- contested election goes smoothly.

Polls show a statistical dead heat between three candidates: free market ex-President Carlos Menem, seeking a third term at 72; fellow Peronist and left-of-centre governor Nestor Kirchner and economist Ricardo Lopez Murphy, an investors favourite.

But with no real front-runner, the election appears headed for a May 18 runoff between the two candidates with the most votes. Caretaker President Eduardo Duhalde is due to hand over the presidential sash on May 25.

Whoever wins will have to tread a fine line between putting a resource-rich economy back on its feet after it was devastated by debt default and devaluation in January 2002, and tackling the poverty that now affects six out of every 10 Argentines.

"Argentines are starving. All we want are dignified jobs and a future for our children," said Carmen Perez as she sold oranges which have become 50% more expensive in a year.

Perez is voting for leftist anti-corruption legislator Elisa Carrio. She is in the top five along with populist ex-president Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, who declared a default on billions of dollars of government debt in a turbulent two weeks that saw five Argentine presidents.

Both candidates have slipped in polls in the last month but still have a chance of making the runoff since the five main contenders are all within 10 percentage points of each other.

Like millions of voters, Perez expects political kingpin Menem to win. His 1989-1999 administration oversaw one of the most sustained periods of growth in Argentine history but was plagued by corruption scandals.

Trumping his fellow candidates with a new twist on political baby kissing, the septuagenarian widely reviled but seen as a charismatic leader announced two weeks ago that his glamorous ex-Miss Universe wife was pregnant.

Menem got the jump on the field again yesterday, the first candidate to turn out to cast his vote in his native province of La Rioja, 1,150km from the capital "We are going to be a great government and Argentina will start to grow again," he told reporters.