Argentina Congress Appoints Duhalde as New President

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 02, 2002

Argentina Congress Appoints Duhalde as New President

Argentina's Congress Names Another New President

Argentina's Congress on Tuesday appointed Eduardo Duhalde, a senator from the Peronist Party, as the new president until 2003 with the task of tiding the country over its current economic and social crisis.

A special session of both houses of the Congress voted to elect Duhalde, a former presidential candidate, after economic recession and street protests sparked the resignations of two incumbent presidents in quick succession.

Argentina plunged into social turmoil in late December as Fernando de la Rua resigned his presidency after days of rioting, protests and looting across the country that left nearly 30 people dead. Rodriguez Saa was chosen by lawmakers to serve until new elections in March, but he quit a week later amid more protests and criticism over his government policies.

The new president will rule until the end of the mandate of De la Rua, who came to office in 1999 after beating Duhalde in the presidential election.

Duhalde, 60, was elected after five hours of debate by Congress. A former two-term governor of Buenos Aires province, he also served as Argentina's vice president in the early 1990's.

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