Photo: The Pulse News Mexico Staff

By KELIN DILLON

Just one week after the Va por México opposition electoral coalition – comprised of the National Action Party (PAN), Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) – announced the rules behind its search for the coalition’s 2024 presidential candidate under the newly created Broad Front for Mexico, the opposition has been crippled by numerous resignations from its members, both from the presidential race and party representation in the Mexican Senate.

As of Monday, July 3, six of Va por México’s potential presidential candidates dropped out of the coalition’s internal race, citing problems with the agreement reached between party leaders and civil society organizations to form the Broad Front for Mexico.

This group of candidates includes PAN Senator Lilly Téllez, PAN Yucatán Governor Mauricio Vila, former PAN Senator Germán Martínez and the PRI’s Clauida Ruíz Massieu, who were joined with the recent resignations from former PRI Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat Hinojosa and former Mexican Employers’ Association (Coparmex) President Gustavo de Hoyos.

According to De Hoyos, his choice to step back from the Va por México internal race was due to the insufficient methodologies established by Broad Front for Mexico, which the former Coparmex boss claims makes citizen candidacy for the presidential position inaccessible without catering to party ideologies.

“Paradoxically, the citizen demand to structure the process has promptly determined that the methodology has imperfections, as well as legal and political risks” said De Hoyos. “In my assessment, this method makes it extremely difficult for citizens to participate without partisan militancy and have not previously held public office.”

De Hoyos also singled out the coalition’s rule that candidates to must obtain 150,000 citizen signatures to proceed in Va por México’s internal race, claiming this is a “clear competitive imbalance” that’s unobtainable for citizens without political experience or the backing of partisan structures, a sentiment echoed by Hinojosa in his own resignation announcement.

“I must say clearly that despite having a long history in civil society, the defined rules for candidacy make the success of my aspiration unfeasible, despite being the only candidate from a totally non-partisan background,” added De Hoyos.

Now, 12 potential presidential candidate remain in Va por México and the Broad Front for Mexico’s internal race: PAN Senator Xóchitl Gálvez, former Senate President Jorge Luis Preciado, Chamber of Deputies President Santiago Creel, former Tamaulipas Governor Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca, former Guanajuato Governor Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, former Michoacán Governor Silvano Aureoles, former PRI President Beatriz Paredes, former Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo, former Secretary of Tourism Enrique de la Madrid, former Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) José Ángel Gurría, PAN Deputy Gabriel Quadri and former Mexico City Governor Miguel Ángel Mancera.

Gálvez, who was previously anticipated to run for the position of Mexico City governor, has seemingly gained plenty of public support in her quest to become the coalition’s presidential candidate – but less from the PAN, who is reportedly less than thrilled about her growing momentum and maintains concerns about Gálvez’s likelihood of upholding the party’s principles if elected federal executive in 2024.

Meanwhile, the PRI’s block in the senate was likewise crippled by the Monday, July 3, resignations by four of its members from the party: Senators Miguel Ángel Osorio, Nuvia Mayorga, Eruviel Ávila and Ruiz Massieu, the latter who as previously mentioned also recently dropped out of the race for Va por México’s presidential candidate.

The former PRI senators will now act as independents without a party affiliation, leaving the PRI with just nine senators in its block and with the fourth largest party representation in the Mexican Senate behind the Citizen’s Movement (MC), which has 12 affiliated senators serving in the senate at the time.