Vice-presidential candidate Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has again criticised President Mauricio Macri’s administration, decrying a lack of “sensitivity” in the Casa Rosada and declaring that her return to frontline politics is “to help unite Argentines.”
The former head of state, who is seconding the Frente de Todos ticket headed by presidential candidate Alberto Fernández, made her comments at the 13th National Meeting of Female Bank Workers in Buenos Aires.
"It is necessary to have ability and sensitivity in the Casa Rosada again, and in each of the places where political leaders make decisions," Fernández de Kirchner told those gathered.
Continuing on her theme, Fernández de Kirchner sought to paint the Juntos por el Cambio coalition as out of touch, saying it was essential that those who hold power “are touched by the problems of the unemployed, of those who have to lay-off workers, of the shops that close and remain empty, of retirees who cannot buy the medicines."
"The big problem we have today in the country is that none of that moves them," she declared.
In a very thinly veiled reference to María Eugenia Vidal, the former president accused the Buenos Aires Province governor of a “lack of sensitivity,” accusing the authorities in the country’s most populous region of “denying the reality” of life, referencing alleged long queues of people to attend job interviews.
At an event attended only by women, the Unidad Ciudadana leader said “it is time for politics to talk once again about feelings and sensitivity.”
“Political leaders, in addition to the ability to analyze, to decide, must have sensitivity. Without one, the other is useless. You can be very capable, but if you don't give a damn about what happens to one or the other, what is the use?" she insisted.
The former president then turned her ire on the government for their management of the economy, painting a picture of a population strapped for cash.
"I want to again have an Argentina where people go back to being happy, to enjoy a weekend, to be able to buy their child a toy at the end of the month,” she said.
Fernández de Kirchner then said her run for office was a selfless effort, designed to put Argentina on a better path.
"I feel that – stripped of any kind of vanity and ambition – that I must return to help unite Argentines, so that we can finally return in our homeland to a time of growth and happiness."
Campaign trail
Fernández de Kirchner to date has avoided campaign rallies in her bid to become vice-president, preferring to hold events promoting her wildly successful memoir, Sinceramente (“Sincerely”), which has topped best-seller lists for weeks. Underlining her popularity among many voters, on Saturday at 4pm she will hold another event promoting her book at the 15,000-capacity DirecTV Arena in Malvinas Argentinas.
She is, however, expected to appear alongside Renewal Front leader Sergio Massa at an event later that day.
The Tigre leader – who formerly served as Fernández de Kirchner’s Cabinet chief from 2008 to 2009 before becoming a fierce critic of the ex-president – has decided to head the Frente de Todos list in Buenos Aires Province in October, seeking a seat in the lower house Chamber of Deputies.
– TIMES/NA
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