Ex-First Lady Margarita Zavala Leaves Conservative PAN Party for Presidency Bid Jude Webber - The Financial Times
go to original October 7, 2017

Since launching her bid for the presidency in June, Former Mexican first lady Margarita Zavala has spent months as one of the top contenders in opinion polls (Reuters)

Former Mexican first lady and presidential hopeful Margarita Zavala quit the conservative National Action Party (PAN) “without rancour” after slamming what she said were anti-democratic practices put in place by its leadership.

In a message aired on social media, Ms Zavala, wife of former president Felipe Calderón, did not say explicitly that she would seek to run as an independent in the July 2018 elections.

“I announced two years ago my intention to seek the presidency … I’d like to have done it representing the PAN. I did all I could to achieve that,” she said.

The 50-year-old lawyer and former deputy, who has been a PAN member for 33 years, nonetheless strongly hinted she was not abandoning her presidential dream. “I gave my word that I would fight for Mexico and I’ll do it,” she said, adding she would always carry the party in her heart.

The peso currency held largely steady after her announcement. A decision by Ms Zavala to run as an independent would likely split the PAN vote and prove a gift to the leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose rhetoric has spooked financial markets.

Ms Zavala, who handed in her resignation letter at PAN headquarters, earlier spurned an appeal by PAN leader Ricardo Anaya to hold last-ditch talks to resolve their differences, saying on Twitter that she had been seeking dialogue for two years and “the division of the PAN is your responsibility”.

Read the rest at The Financial Times

Related: PAN Leader Urges Mexico’s Former First Lady Not to Run for President as Independent (FT.com)

Related: Center-Right PAN Party Faces Deep Divisions (Mexico News Daily)

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