Old ruling party gains in Mexico midterm election

Old ruling party gains in Mexico midterm election

By MARK STEVENSON  /  The Associated Press

Sunday, July 5, 2009 10:34 PM

 MEXICO CITY — The party that ruled Mexico for seven decades appeared to be making a historic comeback in Sunday’s midterm congressional elections, scoring big with voters for the first time since it lost the presidency in 2000.

Mexico’s Ruling Party Is Seen Losing Ground

Mexico’s Ruling Party Is Seen Losing Ground

The Wall Street Journal, By DAVID LUHNOW

Mexico City.-  Mexico’s former ruling party made a strong comeback in midterm elections Sunday, defeating President Felipe Calderón’s conservative party and setting the stage for more gridlock in a politically divided country, exit polls and early returns showed.

With 13% of votes counted, the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, won 35% of the vote compared with 27% for Mr. Calderon’s National Action Party in the race for 500 congressional seats, 565 mayors and six governorships.

The biggest loser on the day was the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, which came within a hair of winning the presidency in 2006. Early returns showed it winning just 12% of the vote. Smaller parties and blank votes made up the rest of the tally.

Exit polls had the breakdown as follows: PRI 40%, PAN 29% and PRD 15%.

Written off by pundits after a third-place finish in the 2006 presidential vote, the PRI did well largely thanks to voter apathy and its well-oiled party machinery at the local level. If results from the exit polls hold, the PRI was expected to gain more than 100 seats in the lower house, while the PRD and PAN were each expected to lose scores.

Drug war, economy weigh on Mexico midterm election

Drug war, economy weigh on Mexico midterm election

By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY – Drug violence, an economic downturn and recent cases of political malfeasance weighed heavily in Sunday’s midterm congressional elections that could decide the future of President Felipe Calderon’s anti-crime and economic policies.

Gobierno de México espera voto por lucha antinarco

• Oficialista y conservador PAN ha ido detrás del PRI en todos los sondeos

• Comicios para elegir 500 diputados, 32 gobernadores y 568 alcaldes

La Nación – San José, Costa Rica Publicado: 2009/07/05

México. AFP El gobierno mexicano someterá hoy al juicio del electorado su política de combate al narcotráfico, marcada por el despliegue de miles de militares, que se convirtió en su principal argumento para remontar terreno antes de los comicios legislativos.

Mexicans Head to Polls Sunday for Midterm Vote

Mexicans Head to Polls Sunday for Midterm Vote

The Wall Street Journal, By DAVID LUHNOW

July 5, 2009

Mexico City.-  Mexicans went to the polls Sunday in midterm elections that are likely to reduce President Felipe Calderón’s already limited room for maneuver in the country’s divided Congress, setting the stage for what could be more gridlock in a country that already seems to be going nowhere fast.

Le Figaro – Mexique: Calderon redoute un camouflet aux législatives

• La crise économique qui frappe de plein fouet le Mexique pourrait coûter de nombreux sièges au parti du président.

Les Mexicains se rendent aux urnes dimanche pour élire leurs députés. Six postes de gouverneurs d’État sur 32 seront aussi renouvelés ainsi que 600 conseils municipaux. Il s’agit d’un test important pour Felipe Calderon, qui a été élu en juillet 2006. Les dernières enquêtes montrent que le PAN (Parti de l’action nationale) pourrait être devancé au Parlement par le PRI (Parti révolutionnaire institutionnel) qui a gouverné le pays pendant pratiquement tout le XXe siècle.