President expresses confidence her allies will remain in power after she steps down
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner made her last appearance at May 25 celebrations as president, giving a rousing speech where she told voters they’ll miss her once she’s gone but expressing confidence that her legacy will live on.
“I want to thank Argentines, those who love me and voted for me — but also those who didn’t,” Fernández de Kirchner said at a Plaza de Mayo speech in which she expressed confidence that her allies would remain in power. “I know that deep down in your hearts you know the things we did, the political decisions we’ve made, were important for everyone.”
The president’s speech had a farewell tone since her term ends in December and she cannot run for a new term. The fact that she was stepping down, though, was irrelevant, she said.
“This is not about leaving (office) or staying. This is a collective project, it does not depend on a single person. It’s up to you to continue moving it forward,” said the leader of the ruling Victory Front (FpV).
The head of state appeared on stage to close the May 25 celebrations which had started a week earlier and were taking place until yesterday.
“People don’t vote looking backward — people vote to move forward forward, looking into the future in order to improve things,” Fernández de Kirchner said during a speech televised via national broadcast that lasted more than an hour.
After recalling some of the measures carried out by the Kirchnerite administrations since 2003, the president sent what appeared to be a thinly veiled message to Buenos Aires province Governor Daniel Scioli, Renewal Front leader Sergio Massa and PRO party chief Mauricio Macri, the frontrunners for this year’s general elections.
“All I’m hearing these days is that every (candidate) is in favour of all the measures (taken by the national government), that the Universal Child Allowance (AUH) is a very good policy, that they won’t privatize (the state-run airline) Aerolíneas Argentinas or YPF.”
The president stressed that those policies “could not have been carried out in four years,” defending the 12 years of Kirchnerite rule.
“They want people to believe that’s it good to be changing administrations every four years. But if everything changes every four years, things remain the same,” she said. “That is why this 12-year transformation process must go on. And (the political slogan) should not be ‘continuity or change,’ for God’s sake! Those who want change should tell Argentines what kind of change they want.”
Last week, the head of state urged Kirchnerite and opposition leaders to talk about state policies, “not stupid things or pantomimes.” It was only days after Scioli appeared on the entertainment TV show Showmatch.
“I ask all Argentines to take care of what’s been achieved so far,” the president went on yesterday.
What will happen after December 10, once she leaves government house? “What you want to happen will happen,” she said. “You’re the ones who own the rights, you’re the true owners of your destiny.”
‘Nothing to be ashamed of’
One of the key tenets of her speech highlighted the importance of the renegotiation of foreign debt carried our by her late husband, former president Néstor Kirchner.
As the conflict with the so-called “vulture funds” lingers on, the president vowed to defend the country’s economic interests by paying all creditors “in a fair, equitable and egalitarian way.”
“I have nothing to be ashamed of, I have no foreign bank accounts that someone could ‘discover,’” she shouted.
The head of state said that other political and business leaders could not say the same.
“Thousands of (bank) accounts were found (in Switzerland) — but have you seen any investigative TV programme (talking) about those accounts?” CFK asked herself.
As for the human rights policies carried out during the last administrations, she said Peronists like herself should take note of the fact that many perpetrators of crime against humanity “came from our very movement,” in reference to the Justicialist Party (PJ).
Human rights, “which were not part of the public agenda in 2003,” are now a definitive part of the Argentine democratic life, she said. Echoing previous statements on the matter, she said opposition leaders and media owners will never forgive the Kirchnerite government for those actions.
“When you’re changing the status quo, you should not expect nice words, only sticks.”
Minutes earlier, she had spoken of the “strength” of union leaders who were fighting to sign wage deals for higher percentages than the unwritten ceiling of 27 percent set by the national government.
“I hope that after December 10 union leaders put the same strength to propose the (salary) increases that they consider necessary,” she said.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald