page_title: Presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
section_title: 2009
hierarchical_section_title: Presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner / Presidency 2007-2015 / 2009
caption_attribution_description: English: Argentine President Cristina Fernandez with Ireland PM Brian Cowen
context_page_description: The Presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner began on 10 December 2007, when she became President of Argentina. She was an Argentine Senator for the Buenos Aires Province at the time of her victory in the 2007 Presidential election. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became the second female president of Argentina, and the first one directly elected as such. In elections of November 2015, she was succeeded by Mauricio Macri as President.
context_section_description: Following the 28 June 2009, mid-term elections, the ruling FPV's party list lost its absolute majority in both houses of Congress, shedding a further 24 seats in the Lower House (including allies) and 4 in the Senate. They lost in the four most important electoral districts (home to 60% of Argentines), and among these, the loss was narrow only in the Province of Buenos Aires. The FPV obtained a very narrow victory, overall, as a percentage of the national vote, and retained their plurality in Congress. This will be reflected in strengthened opposition alliances, notably the center-right Unión Pro, the centrist Civic Coalition and the left-wing Proyecto Sur, when elected candidates in both chambers take office on 11 December 2009.
  Allegations of impropriety have contributed increasingly to the Kirchners' decline in approval, as well. The couple's own, latest federal financial disclosure in July 2009 revealed an increase in their personal assets by 7 times, since Néstor Kirchner's 2003 inaugural. The increase was partly the product of land deals in El Calafate, a scenic, Santa Cruz Province town where the couple has long vacationed and own property (including 450 acres (1.8 km²) of land and two hotels).
  On 17 October 2009, President Cristina Fernández proposed the compulsory submission of DNA samples in cases related to crimes against humanity, in a move lauded by the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, but excoriated by opposition figures as a political move against Clarín Media Group Chairperson Ernestina Herrera de Noble, who is in litigation over her suspected adoption of two children of the "disappeared," and whose hitherto cordial relations with Kirchnerism had recently soured. Similar motives are alleged by the opposition against the president's Media Law, which would restrict the number of media licences per proprietor and allocate a greater share of these to state and NGOs, thereby limiting the influence of Clarín and the conservative La Nación. The president's proposed enactment of mandatory primary elections for all of Argentina's myriad political parties, and for every elected post, was likewise rejected by opposition figures, who charged that these reforms could stymy minor parties and the formation of new ones.
  Following charges of embezzlement filed by a local attorney, Enrique Piragini, on 29 October, Federal Judge Norberto Oyarbide ordered an accounting expert to investigate the origin of the Kirchners’ wealth. Public records show that since their arrival to power in 2003, the declared assets of Cristina and Néstor Kirchner have increased by 572%. A preliminary report on the investigation by the Argentine Anti Corruption Office (OA) established that the official figures provided by the Kirchners "don't stack up". The investigation was suspended by Judge Oyarbide on 30 December, though a week later, Piragini appealed the ruling.
  On 29 October 2009 she launched a universal child benefit plan ( Spanish: Asignación Universal por Hijo ) as a way to fight poverty with the goal to reach approximately five million children and youths.
caption: President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner with Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen
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