Mexico's ruling party votes for Presidential Candidate 02-06-12

Huixquilucan, Mexico (NTN24) - Members of Mexico's ruling conservative party could push aside a close ally of President Felipe Calderon and instead nominate its first female presidential candidate this weekend in a hotly contested primary election. The National Action Party, or PAN, is the last party to pick its candidate ahead of the July 1 election. With a high turnout at a polling station in the State of Mexico on Sunday (February 05), many voters are keen to finalise the party's presidential bid and get on with campaigning. Recent polls show PAN supporters will back former education minister and congresswoman Josefina Vazquez Mota in the PAN's primary and believe she has the best chance of beating leading opposition candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Enrique Pena Nieto. With PAN facing an uphill battle to hold on to power in the upcoming national election, Vazquez Mota told reporters she has confidence in her party's ability to appeal to voters again. "I have great confidence in the enthusiasm, the work and commitment of many PAN members in this country. I am confident that PAN members will demonstrate their convictions to democracy, liberty and to serve citizens," she said. Polls published by newspapers on Friday (February 03) showed Vazquez Mota with a lead of almost 30 percentage points over her two closest rivals, former finance minister Ernesto Cordero and former interior minister Santiago Creel. Cordero is seen as more of a PAN insider ...

View Count: 0 Date: February 6, 2012