MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Yelena Shesternina) - Argentina has a new leader, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the first woman to be elected president in Argentina's history.
Her husband, President Nestor Kirchner decided that his best successor would be his spouse, especially since she was a senator for the province of Buenos Aires with her own political clout.
Cristina Kirchner won 40% of the vote last Sunday, which was 10% more than her closest rival. This already predetermined her victory in the first round, in accordance with the Constitution. She will remain in Casa Rosada, the presidential palace, not as First Lady, but as president.
Her election is an unprecedented victory (Hillary Clinton is only now attempting to move into the White House, which her husband, Bill Clinton, vacated in 2001). Cristina's husband, Nestor, could have run for re-election and had very good chances of winning. More than 50% of Argentineans supported him, according to polls held before Cristina's nomination. However, Cristina's rating was above 60%.
Although Argentineans called the Kirchners "penguins" - both because of Nestor's prominent nose and because of his roots in the penguin-rich Patagonian province of Santa Cruz - they know how much the couple has done for their country in the past four years and duly appreciate it.
Nestor Kirchner pushed down inflation, helped the economy out of a deep crisis, and encouraged its growth.
The First Lady - although she preferred to be called "the first citizen" - did not sit idly either. In 2005, she won a seat in Senate as a candidate for the governing Front for Victory party, surging ahead of another First Lady, Hilda Gonzalez de Duhalde, whose husband Eduardo Duhalde ran Argentina from 2002 to 2003.
Cristina's main opponent in the presidential elections was Elisa Carrio, the leader of the leftwing Civic Coalition. According to preliminary results, she finished second with 25% of the vote.
"Politics is the most important thing in my life," said Cristina Kirchner, a mother of two. She entered the political scene while still a student, long before her husband moved to the presidential palace. She met Nestor at the National University of La Plata. In 1989, she became a congresswoman from their home province of Santa Cruz in Patagonia, and in 1995 moved to the Senate.
It was largely thanks to her that Nestor won the presidency; she led his election campaign in 2003. As president, he entrusted her to conduct crucial talks, including with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The priorities of Cristina's presidential program include maintaining good relations with Chavez and another fighter against "American imperialism," Bolivian President Evo Morales.
She avoided interviews during her election campaign. Instead, she addressed the people directly, promising them free housing, higher wages and pensions, and an end to inflation and corruption.
I can understand her reluctance to talk with journalists who do not like her. They openly asked how much her Dolce & Gabbana suits and Louis Vuitton bags cost, and claimed that she had plastic surgery several times, because one cannot look so young at 54.
Cristina Fernandez is frequently compared to two other ladies, Eva Peron, the wife of Argentinean President Juan Peron (although Eva did not become president, unlike Juan's last wife, Isabel), and Hillary Clinton.
She does not like the latter comparison. "Hillary has become famous because her husband was president. That is the main difference between us," Cristina says. "Our society needs women; there must be more of them in the country's leadership. But we have to pass scrutiny all the time to prove that we are not idiots."
Segolene Royale, who lost this year's race for the French presidency, came to Argentina to congratulate her friend on the victory.
The list of female heads of state and government is becoming longer, with Angela Merkel in Germany, Tarja Halonen in Finland, Michelle Bachelet, Chile's first woman president, and the President of Liberia, Helen Johnson Sirleaf.
As for Russia, about 30% of the respondents said the country would not have a female president in the next decade or two whatever the circumstances.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
