First female president a possibility for Mexico

Published on Tuesday 7 February 2012 00:00

MEXICO’S ruling National Action Party has chosen a female presidential candidate for the first time, betting that charismatic former congresswoman Josefina Vazquez Mota will help it erode the lead in the polls held by its powerful rival.

After easily winning the party’s primary on Sunday night, Ms Vazquez Mota, 51, vowed to reunite her party and told supporters: “I will be the first woman president of Mexico in history.”

The party’s choice finalises the race for Mexico’s 1 July presidential election. The two other major parties have already selected their candidates.

Ms Vazquez Mota faces an uphill climb against former Mexico state governor Enrique Pena Nieto, the front-runner in the polls who could return the Institutional Revolutionary Party to power after a 12-year hiatus. It ruled the country for 71 years before being beaten by National Action in 2000.

The left-wing Democratic Revolution Party chose Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is making his second run after a razor-thin loss in 2006 to president Felipe Calderon. Mexico limits its presidents to a single six-year term.

Ms Vazquez Mota said: “We begin a new road. A road to defeat the real adversary of Mexico … Pena Nieto and his party.”