The nomination of Xóchitl Gálvez as the opposition's presidential candidate is a fact. The Broad Front for Mexico has announced that next Sunday it will deliver to the PAN senator the certificate that accredits her as the coordinator of the opposition coalition for the presidential elections of 2024. The delivery will take place at the Angel of Independence on Paseo de la Reforma, in Mexico City. Simultaneously, in the squares of other States, there will be citizen concentrations in support of the standard-bearer, in a demonstration of political muscle.
The decision was made a day after the party leaders of the front announced that Galvez is ahead in the polls of his only adversary in the internal election, PRI Senator Beatriz Paredes, who was forced to decline. The technical committee that conducted the internal process has announced in passing that the primary elections that would be held over the weekend between the two contenders have been definitively canceled. The ballots that were to be used in those votes, which were already printed, have become obsolete.
Not present at the press conference were the leaders of the parties that make up the coalition: Marko Cortés, of the PAN; Alejandro Moreno, of the PRI, and Jesús Zambrano, of the PRD. The announcement was left in the hands of the technicians of the organizing committee. "After this great democratic effort, we wanted to open it to everyone; after this permanent accompaniment of civil society in these 63 days; after all the agreements taken, today we know that Senator Xóchitl Gálvez will lead the leadership of the Frente Amplio por México," said Arturo Sánchez, former electoral advisor of the INE and today a participant in the opposition bloc.
Moments after the conference, photos were released showing the reason for the absence of the heavyweights of the Front: they were meeting privately with Gálvez and Paredes at the national headquarters of the PRI. It was the first personal meeting between the two politicians after the fall of the veteran PRI. The images show hugs between the two and applause from the leaders, all men, stationed around. The scar operation was launched. Paredes, who yesterday denounced that he was the object of a dirty war for suffering a physical affectation, thanked this Thursday "the careful expressions" towards his person on the part of Gálvez.
The PRI members are determined to go with everything, united and strong, hand in hand with the citizens and supporting a great Mexican and friend, @XochitlGalvez! Not one step back in Mexico's defense! 👊🏼🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/IEfQmVYPPV
— Alejandro Moreno (@alitomorenoc) August 31, 2023
Gálvez's candidacy has given new impetus to an opposition that for months looked disorganized and defeated. This was recognized this Thursday, during the conference of the technical committee of the Front, Angel Avila, member of the leadership of the PRD. "I want to remember that a few months ago there was no shortage of people who said: 'And where is the opposition in Mexico?, it is not seen, it does not exist.' A few months ago, it must be said, we came from a very painful defeat in the State of Mexico; A few months ago the narrative was: 'No one can stop Morena, the State of Mexico won and it is inevitable that Morena wins the presidency of the Republic'. Today this effort of political parties and citizens has shown that this narrative is false and that Morena is going to lose the elections next year," said Ávila.
This morning, before PRD legislators, Galvez asked that Paredes' decline not detract from his campaign and the work he did in traveling the country to reach this point. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said in his conference on Thursday that the appointment of Gálvez proved that the internal process of the opposition front was a "farce" and a "comedy", because, he said, his candidacy had been decided by a group of potentates since before the contest began.
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