Senator Carlos Reutemann today reiterated his support for a presidential candidacy of former caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde, who he described as "an important politician among the Peronist party, who is familiar with the situation in Buenos Aires province."

Talking during a radio interview in Rosario, Reutemann forecast that Argentina will "face rough times in the future, in which the sectors have to seek wide consensus."

"I had the impression, for what I heard in recent days, that Duhalde is seeking to forge a pact similar to the Moncloa, between all the political forces in the country for a 10 year term. It seems a very reasonable idea. You know him, he was in the public administration, and that is an advantage," added the Senator, substantiating his comments.

Hours earlier, Senator Hilda ‘Chiche' Duhalde, Duhalde's wife, ruled out that her husband was planning to run for the presidency in 2011. "Duhalde wants to keep a different role to collaborate with Argentina," said the lawmaker during an interview on a local radio.

She meanwhile said Duhalde is currently working on "a sort of pact of the Moncloa," in which different sectors of Spain agreed on the basis of the democracy in that European nation. Duhalde is also writing another book on his view on issues related to public policies in Argentina.

Reutemann, who is analyzing a possible presidential bid in 2011, said yesterday that Duhalde would be "the best candidate" of the Peronist party. However, political analysts said his comments might in fact be a move to take pressure off his shoulders. Reutemann said Duhalde would "bring balance to all the factions of the Peronism," and hailed the ex-president's knowledge on the situation of national politics.

During the interview, Hilda Duhalde, a critic of the Kirchner administration, said the political parties in Argentina are now facing a "crisis of leadership," following the government's narrow defeat in the mid-term elections in June.

"My husband has always insisted on the need to generate comprehensive policies, which could persist in time, and that will be his contribution in 2011," Hilda Duhalde concluded.

• Reutemann breaks with Latorre, a Senate ally