BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said on Tuesday she will not run for president in the elections scheduled for October, claiming that the country’s judicial system would disqualify her after her high-profile corruption case.
In a post on her blog, Fernandez de Kirchner, who served as president for two terms between 2007 and 2015, said she would not enter into a “perverse game” or a “democratic facade” that would result in the judicial system disqualifying her.
Late last year, Fernandez de Kirchner – who commands rock-star crowds of supporters – was sentenced to six years in jail on corruption charges, disqualifying her from holding public office. She has temporary immunity due to her current role and is expected to appeal the sentence.
The ruling Peronist government of President Alberto Fernandez is facing a tough battle to fend off a challenge from the conservative opposition in the 2023 election.
In her blog, Fernandez de Kirchner also harshly criticized the International Monetary Fund, with which the country has a $44 billion loan deal, blaming it of “accelerating” Argentina’s inflation, which topped 109% in April.
“The story … is the same as always with the Fund in our country: it intervenes, takes the helm of the Argentine economy, imposes its economic program and the uncontrolled inflationary process in Argentina is triggered again,” she said.
(Reporting by Walter Bianchi; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Leslie Adler)
