Cristina Fernández de Kirchner takes on leadership of Partido Justicialista

Former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner formally took over the chair of the Partido Justicialista on Wednesday, the leading party in the opposition Peronist coalition.

Fernández de Kirchner, 71, served two terms as head of state between 2007 and 2015 before returning for an unsuccessful stint as vice-president from 2019 to 2023. 

With the Peronist coalition now the main opposition force to President Javier Milei’s government, the new role underlines the veteran politician’s position as the most prominent critical voice of the La Libertad Avanza administration.

After being formally confirmed as PJ leader midweek, Fernández de Kirchner voiced criticism of Milei in her inaugural address.

"The [PJ] party must train, inform, plan, divulge and organise – those are the five fundamental tasks it must carry out," she told an auditorium full of Peronist leaders in Buenos Aires.

She criticised Milei’s economic measures, accusing him of "not having a productive model" and describing a speech delivered the previous day marking the President’s first anniversary in office as "disconnected from reality."

The ex-president also warned that with this ultra-liberal government "there is an acceptance by society of a … violent adjustment" across society.

She argued that the "adjustment" carried out by Milei's government "was not against the caste" but against pensioners, who "represent 50 per cent of the national budget" – a reference to cuts to pensions.

Fernández de Kirchner has been sentenced to six years imprisonment for corruption and disqualified from public office, a sentence currently under appeal to the Supreme Court.

Though only confirmed as party chair this week, the ex-president had already been proclaimed as its new leader in early November, a few days after the only list competing with her had been disqualified.

Fernández de Kirchner has displayed an iron opposition to Milei’s policies of austerity and deregulation of the economy.

Argentina is due to hold midterm elections next year.

– TIMES/AFP