Mexico Opposition Head Resigns to Seek 2018 Presidential Bid

(Bloomberg) -- The leader of Mexico's largest opposition group is stepping down from his post to prepare for a presidential run under a left-right coalition that's looking to dislodge the ruling party from power.

Ricardo Anaya's resignation as party president, effective this weekend, is the first step to seeking the nomination from his National Action Party (PAN) to run in 2018 against the party of President Enrique Pena Nieto.

His decision was confirmed by Santiago Creel, president of PAN's national election commission, and Juan Adame, regional coordinator of PAN's national executive committee. Anaya said in a Twitter message that he's stepping down and will inform the public on Sunday of his plans.

Anaya's party has been granted the power to choose the presidential nominee for the coalition. The coalition includes his PAN party, which has opposed legal abortion, and the Democratic Revolution Party, which has voted in favor of gay marriage. A third, smaller group, the Citizens' Movement Party, is also part of the coalition.

In early polls the coalition has taken second place or been tied for first place ahead of the 2018 election. Anaya may still have to compete with other members of his party in a primary if any of them register for the presidential nomination. Primary campaigns officially begin in Mexico on Dec. 14.

‘Fundamental Question'

Anaya and his coalition say they represent an alternative to the PRI, which has been involved in a number of corruption scandals, and to the leftist candidate and early front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who's put investors on edge with past pledges to reverse the government's move to open Mexico's oil industry to private drilling.

July's election “raises a fundamental question: continuity or change. Do we continue on the same road toward corruption and inefficiency that the PRI represents, or do we propose a change,” Anaya said Friday at an event to register his coalition with the electoral regulator.

“There are two alternatives,” Anaya said. “One of old and failed ideas, the other what the electoral coalition represents, that of intelligent change and a vision for the future.”

The PRI has said it's cracking down on graft, noting that many corrupt officials have been investigated or jailed. Lopez Obrador, meanwhile, has argued that Mexico's economic model hasn't pulled people out of poverty and needs to be revisited.

Polls Tight

Anaya has placed second to Lopez Obrador in some recent opinion polls, while a survey published Dec. 6 showed the pair in a dead heat, with each having support from 23 percent of respondents. PRI candidate Jose Antonio Meade, looking to succeed Pena Nieto, followed with 19 percent. Mexican presidents can serve only one six-year term.

Anaya, 38, has already served as president of Mexico's lower house at a time when major economic reforms were passed, including the energy overhaul. As president of the National Action Party since 2015 he's overseen several joint bids for gubernatorial elections with the left-leaning PRD, many of them successful.

Yet he's also been accused of sowing division within his own party. Former first lady Margarita Zavala, wife of Pena Nieto predecessor Felipe Calderon, said Anaya engaged in undemocratic practices when she split from PAN to become an independent candidate for president in the 2018 race.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at ncattan@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vivianne Rodrigues at vrodrigues3@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Kenneth Pringle

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