International News

MEXICO CITY, June 7 (APP/AFP): Mexico’s ruling party on Monday
tumbled toward historic defeats in several gubernatorial elections seen as a gauge for its hopes of retaining the presidency in 2018.
Before Sunday’s vote, President Enrique Pena Nieto’s Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI) held nine of the 12 states at play. There are 32
federal jurisdictions in Mexico.
But preliminary results showed that it was leading in just five
states and losing two key bastions, Tamaulipas and Veracruz, both oil-rich regions that it has controlled for more than 80 years.
The biggest winner was the conservative National Action Party (PAN),
which was ahead in seven states, including three in partnership with the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).
“This is truly historic for the PAN,” party leader Ricardo Anaya told
Radio Formula, noting that the PAN had never won so many states in one election, including Durango and Quintana Roo, two other longtime PRI strongholds.
“If we show results in those states, the PAN will reclaim the
presidency in 2018,” Anaya said.
The PAN ended the PRI’s 71-year hold on the presidency in 2000, but
Pena Nieto returned his party to power in 2012.
The president’s popularity, however, has since fallen to 30 percent,
with Mexicans unhappy at his handling of the economy, corruption and drug violence.
Pena Nieto, during a meeting with bankers, said the election was a
time of “sadness and reflection” for those who lost.
“As leaders, we must listen and attend to the message of the people.
Our democracy is, without a doubt, perfectible,” he said.
While the PRD had a tough night, losing Oaxaca to the PRI, leftist
party leader Agustin Basave said voters “came out to punish the government and the PRI.”