Jorge Obeid

Jorge Alberto Obeid (born 24 November 1947) is an Argentine Justicialist Party (PJ) politician, currently an Argentine Chamber of Deputies and former governor of Santa Fe Province until 2007.

Obeid was born in Diamante, Entre Ríos but moved to Santa Fe to train as a chemical engineer. He was a young Peronist activist but was forced to leave the country during the military government. He became a member of the legislative council of Santa Fe and, as the President of the Council, became the mayor when the incumbent resigned.

Obeid became governor of the province for the first time in 1995, winning an election that was fraught with problems, including a breakdown in the computer system counting the ballots that forced a recount to be done by hand. Obeid was declared the winner after 37 days, after charges of fraud and manipulation. He was backed by outgoing governor Carlos Reutemann and Buenos Aires Province governor Eduardo Duhalde and defeated the candidate of President Carlos Menem. He served until 1999, when former governor Reutemann then served for a second four-year term.

After stepping down as governor, Obeid served in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies from 1999. He was re-elected as governor for a second term in 2003. Under his administration, and following his initiative, the provincial legislature repealed the controversial electoral law called Ley de Lemas, which had allowed Obeid (twice) to win the governorship after obtaining less votes than his closest opponent. Obeid did not run for the governorship again, since the provincial constitution forbids reelection, but insteas headed the Front for Victory list for the elections of national deputies. His term as governor ended in December 2007 and he was succeeded by the Socialist Hermes Binner.

External links

• (Spanish) Santa Fe Province