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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2008 
Mexico Left Picks Anti-Gov't Party Chief
 E. Eduardo Castillo, Associated Press
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| | Alejandro Encinas (Guillermo Sologuren) | | |
Mexico City - A former Mexico City mayor who favors a hard line against President Felipe Calderon's government will be the new head of the country's main leftist party, according to preliminary returns released Monday.
Alejandro Encinas led former Sen. Jesus Ortega, a party moderate, by as much as eight percentage points for the Democratic Revolution Party's top job after Sunday's vote in samples of results released by two polling agencies.
The agencies showed Encinas with 49 to 51 percent of the vote and Ortega with 42 to 45 percent. Three other candidates were also on the ballot.
While final results won't be released until Wednesday, newspaper headlines and television programs declared Encinas the winner Monday.
"The trend is very clear," Encinas told the Televisa network.
The party, known as the PRD, has been fractured by severe infighting since its presidential candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, lost Mexico's 2006 presidential election by half a percentage point.
Lopez Obrador alleges that the contest was stolen from him through electoral fraud, and his supporters refuse to have formal dealings with Calderon's administration. He has established a parallel "legitimate" government with himself as its leader.
Sunday's vote was seen as a referendum on whether the party's future will be dictated by the Lopez Obrador camp or a by more moderate wing, which has worked with the executive branch to pass legislation, including sweeping electoral and judicial reform.
In the Televisa interview Monday, Encinas — who was a close adviser to Lopez Obrador — said the party needs "a very important redesign" to avoid the sort of disputes that marred Sunday's election.
Both sides accused the other of vote-buying, intimidation and improper handling of ballots. Problems were reported at 376 of the 4,976 polling places.
The PRD controls 127 seats in the 500-member Congress, making it the chamber's second-largest party. It ranks third in the Senate with 26 of 128 seats. The party also governs several states as well as Mexico City. |
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