Cristina Fernández de Kirchner electricity, gas and water supply. These remained fixed during the terms of Duhalde and Néstor and Cristina Kirchner, despite the crisis that motivated them having ended. As the inflation rate grew during the period, the state financed part of these prices with subsidies. Investment in these areas decreased, and the generation and distribution networks suffered. Argentina lost its self-supply of energy, and had to import it, rather than being able to export surpluses. Kirchner proposed a fiscal austerity program in early 2012, including the gradual removal of subsidies. The proposal turned out to be unpopular, and was not implemented. She
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner However, with 13 challengers splitting the vote, Kirchner won the election decisively in the first round with just over 45% of the vote, followed by 23% for Elisa Carrió (candidate for the Civic Coalition) and 17% for former Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna. Kirchner was popular among the suburban working class and the rural poor, while Carrió and Lavagna both received more support from the urban middle class. Kirchner lost the election in the large cities of Buenos Aires and Rosario. On 14 November, the president-elect announced the names of her new cabinet, which was sworn in on 10 December. Of