Former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez Still Reluctant to Transfer Power? Mauricio Macri Forced to Open New Twitter Account by Outgoing Leader
Since his predecessor refused to give up the old Twitter handle for the highest post in the country, Argentine President Mauricio Macri created a new Twitter account under the name @CasaRosada.
An AFP report published by Yahoo said that the previous presidential account @CasaRosadaAR was refused to be turned over by former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
The Twitter handle, which means "Pink House," is the name of the presidential palace with a pink facade located at Balcarce 50, Buenos Aires, as per Lonely Planet.
"It begins a period of dialogue. We open the doors. Welcome to #CasaRosada!" reads the first tweet of the new presidential account.
It now has about 114,000 followers since making a debut on Tuesday. BBC said the previous @CasaRosadaAR account name has been changed to Casa Rosada2003-2015 and is now said to be just a tribute to Fernandez and late husband Nestor Kirchner. On December 10, the blue checkmark which previously made it an official account was removed by Twitter.
The recent win of Macri as the highest elected official in Argentina marked an end on the rule of the Peronist Party in the country and a victory for the center-right opposition.
He also defeated Kirchner's 8-year leadership of the country. This led to public arguments between the two leaders after election results were released, added Yahoo.
It added that the two argued on where the presidential sash and scepter should be handed over. Macri wanted to have it at the presidential palace while Kirchner pushed to have it at Congress. This even led to a court dispute between the two camps.
The Wall Street Journal earlier said that the new Argentine president is off to a good start with him initially lifting currency controls and allowing the peso exchange rate to reach 13.3.
It was also noted that this was a sharp drop, but the currency managed to recover fast. With the increase in the short-term lending rate, the Argentine peso managed not to dive to unstable rates.
According to the American Enterprise Institute, this move will help the country attract more investors and fight inflation.
The same report added that he also lifted taxes on crops to encourage farmers to make the products they hoarded and stored available to all.
AGWeb noted that Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay revealed that they have come to terms with grain exporters about the bringing in of $400 million daily for the coming weeks.
With Macri's announcement of the eliminations of taxes on these grains, it was reported that the tariff on soybeans was cut to around 5 percent.
All these efforts seem to be geared towards the goal of bringing in more investment to the country.