Mexico's Opposition Candidate Pena Nieto Winning Election: Exit Polls

[nadinbrzezinski]

65. PRI RETAKES THE MEXICAN PRESIDENCY AND THE HOUSE

By Nadin Abbott

July 2, 2012 (San Diego)-- Enrique Peña Nieto has been declared the winner of  Mexico’s federal election yesterday. Mexico, unlike the United States, has a one-term limit for every office, from Mayor to President. His defeat of the PAN counterpart, Josefina Vazquez Mota, was not unexpected. All polling going into the election had Peña Nieto ahead by five to ten points.

What was a surprise was the taking of the House by the PRI, with their allies in the Green Party.

The Mexican system does not have single candidates run for Congressional or Senatorial offices, but instead has slates that gain office through proportional representation, not unlike many European systems. Why this matters is that over the last six years, the current President Felipe Calderón (PAN)  had to fight a Congress that was utterly divided and refused to pass much of his plans. It will remain to be seen if the PAN will try to be an absolute opposition party, or a loyal opposition.

Another important marker in the cultural and political maturity of Mexico was the prompt concession by PAN candidate Mota after her third place finish.

Not surprising, Manuel Lopez Obrador with the PRD, who placed second with 32.28% of the vote—less than four percentage points behind Nieto, announced he will challenge the results of the elections as he did in 2006. In reality the margin between Obrador and Nieto is likely too large for him to overcome.

http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/10253

That talk on the trolley, while chilling, not the first time I hear that

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