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Argentina's first lady expected to win presidency
Argentina's First Lady, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, is poised to dominate Sunday's presidential elections and move from her role as a powerful senator to the country's first female president.
Fernandez and her husband Nestor Kirchner are credited with bringing Argentina back from the brink of economic collapse. The country had been drowning in a $100-billion debt default.
A centre-left politician, Fernandez acted as Kirchner's senior adviser during his four-year presidency.
While she has been criticized for not participating in campaign debates, Argentina's 27.1 million registered voters hope Fernandez will provide economic stability after the boom she helped to create with her husband.
The next president will assume power on Dec. 10 and will have to contend with rising inflation rates and lingering problems from the country's economic crisis, such as high unemployment rates and widespread poverty.
Argentina, once ranked among the 10 richest countries in the world, is also plagued by rampant crime, corruption scandals and a lack of domestic energy resources.
Major polls ahead of the election showed Fernandez with a 10 per cent lead ahead of her closest challengers, former lawmaker Elisa Carrio and former Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna.
Lines to the ballot boxes formed early Sunday morning in Buenos Aires. Registered voters will also fill dozens of House and Senate seats and nine governorships, including the position in the Buenos Aires province. Argentineans are required to vote by law.
Political comparisons
Fernandez and Kirchner have been compared to U.S. political power couple Bill and Hillary Clinton. Like Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Fernandez is a lawyer and senator who remained staunchly devoted to her husband during his rise to power.
She's also been compared to Eva Peron who became the quintessential politically-influential wife when her husband, dictator Juan Peron, ruled Argentina during the 1950s. Like Peron, Fernandez is a jet-setting, fashion conscious woman with a love of glamorous designer clothing.
Fernandez has rejected both comparisons.
"I don't want to be compared with Hillary Clinton or with Evita Peron, or with anybody," she said recently. "There's nothing better than being yourself."
Kirchner and Fernandez met when they were both law students in her hometown of La Plata in the 1970s. They were married in 1975 and have two children.
She began her career as a provincial deputy in the 1980s before moving on to national politics.
The couple has settled in Kirchner's home region in the southern province of Santa Cruz where he served three terms as governor.
Fernandez flew to Santa Cruz on Friday. The couple planned to cast their ballots early Sunday before returning to Buenos Aires to await the outcome.