Fernandez's government downplays electoral setback in Argentina

Reuters ^ | Monday October 28, 2013 | Anthony Esposito and Alejandro Lifschitz

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(Reuters) - President Cristina Fernandez's government sought on Monday to downplay a sobering defeat in Argentina's mid-term elections, asserting that its ability to govern has not been diminished even though voters shrank her majority in Congress and erased her chances of seeking a third term in 2015.

The government's coalition took a beating in Sunday's elections, leaving her with only a slim majority in both legislative chambers.

Some legislators had said they wanted a constitutional amendment to allow Fernandez to run for a third term. But the poor showing by her branch of the Peronist party dashed those hopes once and for all - effectively kicking off the contest to succeed her in 2015.

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For a little background on this near-dictatorship read this:

http://pjmedia.com/blog/argentinas-elected-autocracy/

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Her party still won a legislative majority, just not a super-majority needed to pass a Constitutional amendment allowing her a third term.

She passed a media law in 2009 that has almost succeeded in taking tight control over all media, except for Clarin and La Nacion newspapers. They could still pass a law nationalizing the sole source of newsprint in the country, effectively shutting down the opposition press.

The media law has been curtailed in the courts, but a new law could give her the power to remove and replace judges at her whim.