Argentina leader faces stiff test

Kirchner: Needed legitimacy an election would have brought

Provincial governor Nestor Kirchner is preparing to take office in Argentina after his flamboyant rival, Carlos Menem, quit the presidential race.

Mr Kirchner is set to be proclaimed president on 25 May.

The 53-year-old politician has sought to dispel fears that he would be a weak leader, vowing to do everything in his power to bring change to the country.

But Mr Menem's withdrawal just days before the run-off vote has deprived Mr Kirchner of the chance to win an expected second round landslide.

This would have given him a strong mandate to confront Argentina's deep-rooted economic crisis.

"I am speaking as president of all Argentines," Mr Kirchner said in a television interview late on Wednesday.

"I am going to fight for Argentina...We will combat poverty hard."

He promised to make politics more transparent and provide strong leadership.

Mr Kirchner, who comes from the country's largest political movement, the Peronists, was also scathing of Mr Menem's decision to abandon the electoral race, saying it robbed people of their right to vote.

Mr Menem, 72, won the largest number of votes in the first round in April, which was contested by several candidates.

Poisoned chalice

But opinion polls put the controversial ex-president, who led Argentina from 1989 to 1999, well behind Mr Kirchner.

Menem: Bowing out for good?

Many Argentines, weary of economic and political upheaval, were expected to vote for Mr Kirchner as the "least bad" option.

Mr Menem accused the caretaker president, Eduardo Duhalde, who supported his rival, of mounting a campaign of lies to undermine his candidacy.

"Kirchner can stick with his 22% and I'll stick with the Argentine people," said Mr Menem, who garnered 24% of the first-round vote.

His uncontested victory may be a poisoned chalice for Mr Kirchner, correspondents say.

He faces a huge challenge in leading a once-rich country where more than half the population live in poverty.

The Argentine economy has shown signs of recovery after its dramatic collapse in December 2001 but the country still faces the huge hurdle of renegotiating its massive foreign debt.

To restore international credit and regain the support of the International Monetary Fund, the new president is going to have to make tough decisions that may well go against powerful vested interests within his own Peronist party, the BBC's Tom Gibb in Buenos Aires says.