Argentina has what the world wants — and may soon have a woman in charge

In Washington, the campaign to put another Clinton in the White House is well underway. In Argentina, the next president could also be the wife of a man who has held the highest office before. President Néstor Kirchner, who grabbed the top job four years ago after polling just 22 per cent of the vote in the first round against a discredited Carlos Menem, comes up for re-election in October. As the deadline for nominations approached, it was always certain that a Kirchner would run. But would it be the President or his wife Cristina? For months, rumours circulated that Kirchner, who is said to have health problems, might stand aside and allow his missus to go for the job. This being Argentina, where Perón and his two wives remain controversial figures, the idea of an attractive, politically savvy woman taking power has inevitably excited intense debate.

Well, now we know. Mrs Kirchner — a Senator in her own right — is going to stand for president, and already the conspiracy theorists are having a field day. It has not gone unnoticed, for example, that the constitution was changed towards the end of Menem’s time so that presidents are limited to a maximum of two consecutive terms. Previously the limit was two terms, period. What if Mrs Kirchner succeeds her husband, serves four years and then relinquishes the presidency back to him? Could the Kirchners go on indefinitely, creating a new political dynasty without being in technical breach of the constitution? The idea may be fanciful, but it remains a possibility.

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Had Kirchner himself stood again, he would, most pundits think, have been a shoo-in. His approval ratings have fallen from their sky-high levels of a year ago, but despite a surprise setback in the recent Buenos Aires mayoral election, when his candidate was roundly thumped, the book­makers had him at long odds on to gain re-election this autumn.