الرئيسية
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Voters from Mexico's
ruling conservative party selected their first woman presidential
candidate on Sunday, choosing a former education minister to battle the
opposition's nominee, who has a big lead in the polls.
National Action Party (PAN) voters threw their support behind former party congressional leader Josefina Vazquez Mota, pushing aside Ernesto Cordero, a close ally of President Felipe Calderon.
Jose Espina, who organized the vote, announced Vazquez Mota
was ahead with 55 percent support with around 87 percent of the votes
counted, more than enough to secure the party nomination. Cordero came
in second with 38 percent.
National polls show Vasquez Mota is the PAN's best chance against Enrique Pena Nieto from Mexico's
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico for most of
the last century, but she trails him by 20 percentage points.
"Today we end a primary and start a new journey, a journey to defeat
the real adversary of Mexico, who represents authoritarianism and the
worst anti-democratic practices, who represents the return to a corrupt
system," Vazquez Mota said before a cheering crowd of supporters at her victory party.
"This adversary is Pena Nieto and his party," she said, flanked by her primary opponents, who pledged their support.
ruling conservative party selected their first woman presidential
candidate on Sunday, choosing a former education minister to battle the
opposition's nominee, who has a big lead in the polls.
National Action Party (PAN) voters threw their support behind former party congressional leader Josefina Vazquez Mota, pushing aside Ernesto Cordero, a close ally of President Felipe Calderon.
Jose Espina, who organized the vote, announced Vazquez Mota
was ahead with 55 percent support with around 87 percent of the votes
counted, more than enough to secure the party nomination. Cordero came
in second with 38 percent.
National polls show Vasquez Mota is the PAN's best chance against Enrique Pena Nieto from Mexico's
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico for most of
the last century, but she trails him by 20 percentage points.
"Today we end a primary and start a new journey, a journey to defeat
the real adversary of Mexico, who represents authoritarianism and the
worst anti-democratic practices, who represents the return to a corrupt
system," Vazquez Mota said before a cheering crowd of supporters at her victory party.
"This adversary is Pena Nieto and his party," she said, flanked by her primary opponents, who pledged their support.