Kirchner to seek legislative seat, immunity

BUENOS AIRES

Argentina's former president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, gives a speech on the 215th anniversary of the May Revolution that led to Argentina's independence from Spain at the Polo Cultural Saldias in Buenos Aires on May 25, 2025.

Cristina Kirchner, Argentina's former leftist president, has said she will run for a provincial legislative seat, which would grant her immunity as she fights a corruption conviction.

Kirchner, 72, was sentenced to six years imprisonment in 2022 for fraud in the awarding of tenders for public works during her 2007-2015 presidency.

The Supreme Court is considering her appeal, which also targets a ban on her holding public office.

Kirchner rose to prominence as part of a political power couple with her late husband Nestor Kirchner, who preceded her as president between 2003 and 2007.

After two terms as president she served as vice-president from 2019 to 2023, in the last center-left administration before libertarian President Javier Milei took power.

In a television interview on June 2, Kirchner said she would seek a seat in the Buenos Aires provincial legislature in elections in September.

"I am going to run, as I said in many meetings," Kirchner said on the TV station C5N.

She said the election was important for her Peronist party, the main force opposing Milei, to build momentum as Argentina girds for nationwide legislative elections in October.

If she wins a seat, Kirchner would gain immunity that could protect her in the court cases against her, like the fraud conviction.