Final hours! Save up to 55% OFF InvestingProCLAIM SALE

Mexico ruling party names Sheinbaum candidate for 2024, making first female president likely

Published 09/06/2023, 01:01 PM
Updated 09/07/2023, 12:12 AM
© Reuters. A combination picture shows Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard (L) during the announcement of aspiring candidates for MORENA party's 2024 presidential candidacy, in Mexico City, Mexico June 11, 2023, and former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum dur

By Dave Graham

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico's ruling party on Wednesday named former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum its candidate for next year's presidential election, putting her in pole position to become the country's first female leader.

Sheinbaum, 61, is a close ally of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and had been regarded as the strong favorite to be selected in the national poll organized by the leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA).

"Today the Mexican people decided," a smiling Sheinbaum told supporters to shouts of "president, president, president," at a press conference where she was declared MORENA candidate.

"We will win in 2024," she said, dressed in the purple color of her party.

Sheinbaum beat out five other contenders and won each of five nationwide polls organized to decide the result, averaging about 39% of the vote, the party said.

However, hours before the winner was announced, Sheinbaum's closest rival, former foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard, said the vote had been tainted by irregularities and must be redone.

Ebrard was not present as Sheinbaum was hailed as the winner, telling a Mexican radio station he and his team had been removed from the event in Mexico City's World Trade Center, a towering building in an upscale neighborhood of the capital.

He said he would decide his next move on Monday and, when asked, did not rule out throwing in his lot with the center-left Citizens' Movement (MC), the only significant opposition party yet to select a presidential candidate.

Ebrard captured just over a quarter of the vote in the MORENA polling, the party said.

His campaign has argued for weeks that there were problems in the selection process and had stepped up complaints in recent days. Many political insiders had forecast a bust-up.

MORENA's leaders were quick to defend the vote.

"There is no incident that has affected the final result in a definitive manner," said Alfonso Durazo, president of MORENA's national board. "The result of this process is definitive."

All of MORENA's state governors, including Durazo, signed a statement backing the integrity of the selection process.

Opinion polls show MORENA is heavily favored to win the June 2 presidential election, though Lopez Obrador has urged the party to remain united heading into next year.

In an apparent nod to Ebrard's allegations and the risk of him splitting, Sheinbaum did the same in her victory address.

"We need everybody. Unity is fundamental. The doors are always open, they will never close," she said.

The main opposition alliance has already chosen a female candidate - Xochitl Galvez, a charismatic and unconventional senator of Indigenous origin who overcame an impoverished background to become a successful entrepreneur.

© Reuters. Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum reacts after she was nominated as a presidential candidate, in Mexico City, Mexico September 6, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Sheinbaum, a noted physicist and environmentalist before her entry into frontline politics, has vowed to consolidate Lopez Obrador's legacy, aligning herself with his political base and the bedrock of support that underpins his approval ratings of around 60%.

Viewed as more of a consensus-builder than the combative Lopez Obrador, Sheinbaum has indicated she would ramp up renewable energy usage, which has taken a back seat to the president's efforts to revive state oil company Pemex.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.