New Argentine Chief Agrees to Take Over Early

President-elect Carlos Menem reversed himself today and said he is prepared to take office June 30, the day President Raul Alfonsin has said he will resign, averting a transition muddle.

“We are totally prepared to assume the leadership of the republic on this date,” Menem told a press conference in his home province of La Rioja.

Only Monday night, Menem had said he could not take office so soon.

Alfonsin announced late Monday that he will resign June 30. His term does not expire until Dec. 10, but he has been under pressure to step down in the face of Argentina’s economic collapse.

Menem, whose Peronist Party trounced the ruling Radicals in May 14 elections, said after Alfonsin’s announcement that he was surprised by the president’s statement because negotiations on an early transfer were not complete. Close aides said early August would have been a more suitable date for the transfer.

Menem said at the press conference in La Rioja, 690 miles northwest of Buenos Aires, that his government’s economic plan will be announced the day he takes office.

“Without delay we will announce the measures of the new economic plan that very day,” he pledged.

Details leaked to the press over the weekend showed a program of large salary increases, far-reaching public sector and tax reform and the introduction of a new currency to replace the battered austral, which has lost more than 95% of its value against the dollar in the last four months.

A growing number of political, business and labor leaders had pressed Alfonsin to cut short his term, especially after the elections.