Support for an Egalitarian Republic

Infobox_Political_Party
party_name = Afirmación para una República Igualitaria
colorcode = #0080FF
party_
leader = Elsa Quiroz
foundation = 2001
ideology = Progressivism, Social democracy
colors = Light blue
headquarters = Buenos Aires, Argentina
international = none
website = [http://www.ari.org.ar www.ari.org.ar]

Support for an Egalitarian Republic (Spanish: "Afirmación para una República Igualitaria", ARI) also known as Alternative for a Republic of Equals (Spanish: "Alternativa por una República de Iguales") is a centre-left Argentine political party, founded in 2001 by Elisa Carrió. It is the leading member of the Civic Coalition with smaller centrist parties, and also has a loose alliance with the Socialist Party.

Creation and political representation

Elisa Carrió, a former Radical Civic Union (UCR) politician, created the ARI after the breakup of the government alliance that brought Fernando de la Rúa to the presidency in 1999. It gathered members from UCR, the left-wing FrePaso and provincial parties.

The 2001 elections gave ARI 17 of the 257 seats in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, and one senator. Carrió got a 14.1% share of the vote in the 2003 presidential elections. In the 2005 elections, ARI won eight seats. In the 2007 elections, ARI won the governorship of the deep-south Province of Tierra del Fuego, when Fabiana Rios, an ARI deputy, defeated the pro-government candidate Hugo Cóccaro, on June 24, 2007. Tierra del Fuego is currently (as of 2008) the first and only province ruled by ARI.

The party has established itself as a major force only in the City of Buenos Aires (where center-progressive middle-class vote has traditionally been important), in Buenos Aires Province, and in the aforementioned Province of Tierra del Fuego. In Santa Fe Province, where the Socialist Party has the only significant presence in the country, ARI has allied with it and with the local Radical Civic Union as part of the Progressive, Civic and Social Front, to present joint proposals and candidates for the 2007 elections [ [http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/rosario/20-2006-12-10.html Pagina 12] ] . The Coalition's Socialist candidate, Hermes Binner, won the seat of governor of Santa Fe.

In the presidential elections of 2007, Carrió came second, heading the Civic Coalition with Rubén Giustiniani, chairman of the Socialist Party. She obtained about 23% of the vote, coming in a distant second behind Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. She won the majority vote in two of the three largest cities of Argentina: Buenos Aires and Rosario, but she suffered a larger defeat in Buenos Aires Province, the most populated district, and could not force a run-off election. ["Clarín", 29 October 2007. [http://www.clarin.com/diario/2007/10/29/um/m-01529064.htm Cristina Kirchner conserva casi 22 puntos de diferencia sobre Carrió] .] ["Página/12", 29 October 2007. [http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-93719-2007-10-29.html Kirchner, presidenta con "A" final] .] ARI did however win four Senate seats (2 of the City of Buenos Aires and 2 of Tierra del Fuego) and a considerable number of seats in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, with further Congress seats for other members of the Coalition.

2007 split

As part of building a broader coalition ahead of the 2007 elections, Carrió reached out to centrist figures such as Patricia Bullrich and María Eugenia Estenssoro, who was elected Senator for Buenos Aires. This proved controversial in ARI ranks and several national legislators formed a separate block called the Autonomous ARI in Congress. In May 2008, the block, led by Eduardo Macaluse, announced that they were forming a new party, Solidarity and Equality ("Solidaridad e Igualdad - SÍ"). Others who left ARI were Carlos Raimundi, Leonardo Gorbacz, Delia Bisutti, Nelida Belous, Verónica Venas, Emilio García Méndez, Lidia Naim and María América González. [ [http://www.parlamentario.com/noticia-14812.html El ARI Autónomo mutó a Solidaridad e Igualdad Sí] , parlamentario.com, 18 May 2008.] Senator María Rosa Díaz also appeared at the launch of SÍ. [ [http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-104392-2008-05-18.html Dígale SI al nuevo partido opositor] , "Página/12", 18 May 2008.]

ee also

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References

External links

* [http://www.ari.org.ar/ Official website]