Scioli rejects rumours of 'rifts' with CFK, says he is not campaigning

Buenos Aires province governor Daniel Scioli denied any rifts between him and President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and assured he is not trying to be confrontational.

After the governor admitted that he was considering a presidential run in 2015, many Kirchnerite leaders condemned his statements and said that this was not a time to discuss candidacies. 

“Let me be clear,” the governor said. “My position is not supposed to be confrontational,” he said in an interview to a Sunday newspaper. 

Only a week ago, Scioli had admitted his intention to run for president in 2015, unleashing a storm of criticism in the Kirchnerite ranks.

However, Scioli later explained that he would support an eventual constitutional reform that allows Fernández de Kirchner to run for a third term in 2015, as many of the President’s most fervent followers want. 

“It was just an expression of desire. Nothing more than that. It doesn’t mean that I’m campaigning or that I’m launching anything prematurely,” the governor stated.

He continued by saying that he admitted “his political aspirations as part of his wishes or will in a clear context of the respect, affection and gratitude he has for the President.” 

Sciolists and Kirchnerites clashed last week after the governor’s confession.

Before Friday, Fernández de Kirchner and Scioli met in public for the first time since his statements but avoided commenting on the matter.