Fernandez hasn't announced her intention to run for a second term. Instead, she has sent out feelers to political supporters outside the Peronist movement to sound them out on chances of supporting her re-election on a broad-based ticket.

Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo, in the clearest hint yet of the president's strategy, called on all political parties to support the Front for Victory, the left-wing faction of the Peronist Justicialist Party that is backed by and in turn backs Fernandez.

A split between left-wing and right-wing Peronists within the Justicialist Party deepened after the 2003 presidential election and the Front gained enough strength before the 2007 election to enable Fernandez to become president. But, by the mid-term election in 2009, the Front lost steam, costing Fernandez seats in both chambers of the National Congress.

The president's political strategists now want to make sure there'll be enough support for a broad-based government before announcing if Fernandez will run for office again.

Randazzo said the government hoped for a broad consensus as the idea was "not to have Peronist Party members as the main stars of the electoral process."

He explained, "We want parties to join the combined-list ballots without thinking they would get in trouble," in what the media described as an invitation to members of other parties to rally behind Fernandez despite risk they might be accused of disloyalty to their own parties.

Activists from other parties have been promised a sweetener -- selection for the vice presidential role.

Analysts said in media commentaries that Fernandez is trying to dilute her dependency on the powerful Peronist movement whose right-wing faction is known to have been lukewarm toward her in the past.

Peronist critics of Fernandez reacted angrily to the ploy, accusing the president of trying to undermine the Peronist movement.

Asked when Fernandez could announce her candidacy, Randazzo said, "We will all have to wait a bit more to announce the president's candidacy."

The president's plans for the next terms were given a major setback when powerful unions supportive of Fernandez issued calls for significant salary increases to bring their wages into line with the inflationary spiral.

The government has issued edicts discouraging the use of terms such as inflation and advised instead the use of substitute phrases like "price distortion."

earlier related report
China congress chief rules out multi-party system
Beijing (AFP) March 10, 2011 - China's parliament chief Thursday ruled out any shift to multi-party democracy in a speech that appeared to pour cold water on political reform hopes sparked by remarks from Premier Wen Jiabao last year.

Wu Bangguo, who is officially number two in the country's leadership behind President Hu Jintao, said in his annual address to the legislature that abandoning the Communist Party-dominated system could lead to chaos.

"If we waver... the fruits of development that we have already achieved will be lost and the country could even fall into the abyss of civil strife," Wu told the National People's Congress, which he heads.

The Communist Party uses Wu's address each year to ram home the idea that only its authoritarian rule is suitable for China, but Thursday's speech follows comments by Wen last August seen by many as backing political reform.

During a speech in the southern city of Shenzhen, Wen said China must "push forward reform of the political system", increase citizen's democratic rights and place checks on state power.

Those comments, and his remarks in a subsequent interview on CNN, fuelled speculation of a split in the party's top leadership, and especially with Hu, whose own later comments on the issue were much more tepid.

Political analysts are closely watching such comments as the Communist Party prepares for a crucial meeting late next year, during which the country's top leadership for the next decade will be finalised.

Wu, however, made no mention of political reform in his speech to nearly 3,000 parliamentary delegates, whose annual session runs through March 14.

"China's national conditions strongly indicate that we not engage in multi-party rotations of political power, not engage in a diversity of guiding political ideologies," or adopt other concepts such as separation of powers or bicameral legislatures, Wu said.

He added China cannot "mechanically copy" foreign legislative features and said laws going through the parliament must aim to "strengthen and improve the party's leadership, and cement and perfect the party's ruling status".

Communist leaders regularly say Chinese people already enjoy many democratic rights and that the country is on a long-term path to perfecting that.

However, political power is monopolised by the Communist Party and the government says China has unique features that prevent any speedy change in the situation.

Many political observers have said Wen's comments actually did not depart significantly, if at all, from the official lip service paid to democracy and political reform.

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