Argentine Leader Wins Battle to Run for 2nd Term
President Carlos Saul Menem, the architect of Argentina’s economic recovery, Sunday won his battle to be allowed to run for a second term and scrapped a plebiscite on the question planned for next Sunday.
Menem and his predecessor, Raul Alfonsin of the opposition Radical Civic Union, met, hugged and signed a paper drafted earlier by their aides to clear the way for a reform of Argentina’s 140-year-old constitution, which currently bars consecutive terms.
“I’m extremely pleased. This is the beginning of a very important phase in the country’s life,” Alfonsin said as he left Menem’s residence outside Buenos Aires.
Menem’s press chief, Raul Burzaco, told reporters that the government canceled next Sunday’s plebiscite when the Radicals dropped their opposition to Menem running for reelection.
Apart from allowing Menem to run again when his current term expires in 1995, the pact also includes shortening presidential terms to four years from the current six and creating the position of prime minister, Burzaco said.
For the first time, it will also do away with the requirement that Argentine presidents be Roman Catholics.
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