Buenos Aires - The former president of Argentina and husband of the current President Cristina Kirchner Monday resigned as head of the FJPV Peronist Front for Victory party after the couple suffered a huge defeat in parliamentary elections.

Nestor Kirchner stepped aside after losing his bid Sunday for a legislative seat for the province that includes the nation's capital, Buenos Aires.

The former president asked the governor of the Buenos Aires Province Daniel Scioli to take over the post, according to the state news agency Telam.

The left wing of the Peronist movement represented by the power couple suffered large losses on Sunday, with the ruling party dropping from 45 per cent of the national vote in 2007 to 30 per cent on Sunday.(dpa)