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Argentina's seven-day president

Mr Rodriguez Saa is a lifelong politician

It is a record Mr Rodriguez Saa, 54, had been expected to exploit to run for president, until he was unexpectedly thrust centre-stage a week ago.

Asked before his appointment if he planned to stand as a candidate in the scheduled 3 March election, Mr Rodriguez Saa appeared evasive.

"Although no-one will be banned from standing in that election, I believe that I shall have a very difficult role during the 60-90 days that I shall be in office. Thus, I shall devote all my efforts to this task," he said.

He could not have known just how accurate that prediction would turn out to be.

Tanned and tidy

A trained lawyer, Mr Rodriguez Saa - who is married with five children - is a life-long politician who became a provincial legislator at the early age of 25.

He is usually seen tanned and tidily dressed, with a trademark wide-mouthed smile. He is said to be an obsessive player of bridge with a preference for neatness and order.

He is still tainted by a sex scandal in 1983, when he was found in a love motel with a woman and two men - though Mr Rodriguez Saa has always said he was the victim of a kidnapping and blackmail plot.

On the San Luis government web site, Mr Rodriguez Saa says he has developed a "new economic model" in the province, which has managed to "transform" it.

He used the same phrases in interviews given after his name was put forward as interim president, though the differences between the small province of San Luis and Argentina's huge economic problems suggest the similarities end there.

In San Luis, where he is known simply as "El Adolfo", Mr Rodriguez Saa is respected for winning re-election four times.

But he is not without critics, including one local politician who last year accused Mr Rodriguez Saa of owning more than 20 homes - despite having become governor as the owner of only one.