Opposition members urge Boudou to 'take leave of absence'

After one of his properties was raided by gendarmerie officials on Wednesday, several referents in the opposition publicly asked Vice-President Amado Boudou to take a “leave of absence” and “step aside,” while other Kirchnerite officials expressed their support. 

Both the GEN and Peronist Front parties criticized Boudou. But Kirchnerite leader Luis D’Elía expressed his support for the Vice-President via Twitter, saying that the raid shows that “transparency and equality before the law.”

The head of the GEN caucus in the Lower House, Margarita Stolbizer, considered that Boudou “should take a leave of absence” while the investigation continues over his alleged ties to the lifting of the bankruptcy plans of printing company Ciccone. 

“The Vice-President should step aside to avoid any position of power during the investigation, and that President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner “should be freed from having to keep him there.”

“When the news hits to foreign press it will be taken for what it really is: a real sandal. The fact that one of his properties was raided at least suggests that he is compromised in this. At least he is suspected of being compromised,” she said. 

Peronist Front lawmaker Eduardo Amadeo explained that “Boudou should explain what has happened to the Argentine population without waiting for a judge to decide it in court and take the institutional responsibility that his office demands.”

“Raiding the apartment of a Vice-President is a serious matter that forces Boudou to take charge and show democratic attitude of transparency,” Amadeo added. 

D’Elía, however, tweeted in favour of the Vice-President.

“We believe in you. The raid expresses transparency and equality in the eyes of the law without any sort of privilege,” he said.