Argentina's political crisis continued yesterday as congress failed to name a successor to Mr Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, the interim president who resigned on Sunday just one week after his appointment.
Congressional leader Mr Eduardo Camano temporarily succeeded Mr Saa after street protests and party divisions left him powerless to tackle Argentina's deepening economic crisis. Mr Saa lost credibility when he appointed discredited politicians to key posts and failed to lift banking laws which prevent Argentinians from accessing salaries, pensions and savings.
The congress seemed certain to name Mr Eduardo Duhalde, a Peronist senator, caretaker president until 2003, but lacked the necessary quorum to legalise his appointment during yesterday's session.
The Peronist party is divided over plans to cancel presidential elections, scheduled for March, which would legitimise an interim president until 2003.
One section of the party feared that popular disaffection could lead to massive abstention or further violent unrest.
Meanwhile thousands of police were drafted in to protect the government palace and congress buildings, the scenes of violent demonstrations at the weekend.
Argentina now lacks an economic recovery plan as the introduction of a third currency was shelved amid fears of hyperinflation. In his brief tenure Mr Saa suspended debt repayments, freeing up billions of dollars to alleviate poverty through state work programmes. However the decision to maintain limits on bank withdrawals proved too much for Argentinians, who fear an upcoming devaluation could wipe out dollar savings.
If ratified as president, Mr Duhalde faces an uphill battle to achieve a political consensus which would sustain the nation through a fourth year of recession.
The popular mood is combative as citizens watch and wait, prepared to take to the streets and oust each new president at the slightest offence. Mr Duhalde's term as governor of Buenos Aires was marred by widespread allegations of corruption, a legacy that may poison his return to the limelight.
Mr Duhalde, defeated by Mr Fernando de la Rua in 1999 presidential elections, bounced back last year when he secured the highest vote in mid-term senate elections.
He belongs to the populist wing of the Peronist party and raised a storm two years ago when he suggested freezing debt repayments while on the presidential campaign trail. The stock exchange lost 9 per cent of its value overnight and with it went Mr Duhalde's hopes of election triumph.
The new administration has the option of devaluing the peso or promoting national industry, which has been devastated by cheap imports.
In the past 12 years Argentina's external debt has doubled and unemployment has tripled, even as politicians raked in $40 billion from the privatisation of national assets. Now there is nothing left to sell, obliging rulers to take control of private bank accounts and cut back on pensions.