Mexican presidential race to kick off with nominations

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The top three contenders to be Mexico's next president start the race in earnest Sunday when their parties and coalitions officially nominate them as their candidates for the July 1 election.

It is still a wide-open race to succeed President Enrique Pena Nieto, who is deeply unpopular heading into the final stretch of his six-year term in a Mexico beset by endless corruption scandals and record levels of violent crime.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announces the resignation of Education Minister, Aurelio Nuno, during a ceremony at Los Pinos Presidential Residence in Mexico City on December 6, 2017. /VCG Photo‍

The leader of the pack is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or AMLO, a fiery leftist who has tried to present a mellower image this time around.

In second place is Ricardo Anaya of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), a youthful ex-lawmaker whose bid to campaign as a fresh face has been blotched by allegations of corruption and strong-arming his way to his party's nomination.

Rounding out the top three is respected former finance minister Jose Antonio Meade, standing for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) – a long-dominant force in Mexican politics whose popularity is now so low it tapped a non-party member to be its presidential candidate for the first time in its history.

Officially, the campaign does not open until March 30, but in practice Sunday's nominations will put the seal on what has already been a months-long "pre-campaign" setting up a three-way race.

Chamula indigenous people attend a political meeting of the pre-candidate for the Mexican presidency by the ruling Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) Jose Antonio Meade, in the town of San Juan Chamula, Chiapas state, Mexico on December 14, 2017. /VCG Photo

Already, the contest has laid bare Mexico's divisions.

"This election is about those people who are desperate for change in Mexico and are willing to try anything different, and those people who are genuinely worried about what change will bring," said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute Wilson Center in Washington.

Source(s): AFP