Interim Argentinian leader quits

Monday December 31, 2001

Argentina today struggled to fill a political vacuum after President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa stepped down after only 10 days in office.

Mr Saa quit after complaining that his Peronist party had abandoned him, leaving him unable to find a way out of economic collapse for a country, saddled with $132bn (£91bn) in public debt.

"The wolves and political lobbies running wild don't understand the spirit of the new times," he said, lashing out some of his party's top leaders. "They've asked me to do in seven days what hasn't been done in the last 30 years."

Mr Saa became interim president on December 23, two days after President Fernando de la Rua was forced out amid protests and looting over the government's inability to contain an economic crisis, where unemployment tops 18%. The violence left 28 people dead.

Argentina's third president in less than two weeks, his swift departure left the presidency in the hands of House majority leader Eduardo Camano.

Ramon Puerta, the Senate leader who served briefly as president following Mr de la Rua's resignation, quit his post Sunday to avoid inheriting the presidency again.

Mr Camano said that he would call a special legislative assembly, possibly as early as Tuesday, to appoint a new president.

"We want the quickest possible solution so we can have a president who can bring the country forward," he said.

Mr Saa was chosen by Congress to lead Argentina until a new presidential election slated for March 3. His resignation left Argentina without a clear consensus on how to resolve a devastating economic crisis that has prompted rising social tensions and street protests.

"The situation in this country is at the breaking point," said Nestor Kirchner, an influential Peronist leader.

Mr Saa's presidency began to unravel late Friday night, after thousands of Argentinians flooded the streets of downtown Buenos Aires. They demanded an end to a month-old banking freeze limiting cash withdrawals to $250 a week and the expulsion of figures suspected of corruption from his cabinet.

Mr De la Rua imposed the capital controls on December 1 to stem a run on the country's banks that threatened the currency, the peso, now tied one-to-one with the US dollar.

Seeking to shore up political support, Mr Saa called Peronist party provincial governors to a meeting Sunday on key issues - including the March election to complete the two years of Mr De la Rua's term.

However, talks broke down as only a handful of the governors offered their support. Mr Saa was moving to extend his time in office, set at 60 days by a congressional body that appointed him a week ago.

He said that he had little choice but to step down after failing to cobble together support for his caretaker administration, and blamed several members of his party for putting their presidential ambitions ahead of solving the country's pressing problems.

Mr Camano urged people not to mount large-scale protests"I am begging people not to demonstrate, so we can have a chance to solve this crisis," he said. "If they want to bang pots, I ask that they do it at home."