Mexico: Climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, has been elected as the first woman to be elected as President of Mexico. She will also be the first Jewish leader of Jewish heritage to hold the office, Politico reported.
61-year-old Sheinbaum received nearly 58 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results from the Mexican electoral office.
Sheinbaum’s opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez, backed by a coalition of the National Action (PAN), Institutional Revolutionary (PRI) and Democratic Revolution (PRD) parties, has received votes between 26.6 per cent and 28.6 per cent.
Jorge Alvarez Maynez of the Citizens’ Movement has received votes between 9.9% and 10.8 per cent. According to the quick count results, participation in Mexico’s Presidential election was between 58.9 per cent and 61.7 per cent of nearly 100 million eligible voters, according to CNN report.
After expressing gratitude to the voters for their support, Sheinbaum called it a historical moment. Sheinbaum stated, “For the first time in 200 years of the Republic, I will become the first woman president of Mexico.” She said, “We have achieved a plural, diverse and democratic Mexico,” according to a Politico report.
She further said, “Although many Mexicans do not fully agree with our project, we will have to walk in peace and harmony to continue building a fair and more prosperous Mexico.”
Sheinbaum’s party, Morena, is expected to have a majority in the legislature, according to projections by the Mexican electoral office. Such a majority would enable her to make constitutional changes that have eluded Mexico’s incumbent President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Politico reported.
She is a close confidant of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was not allowed to run for office again after his six-year term. It was the biggest election day in Mexico, which has a population of around 130 million people.
Obrador congratulated Sheinbaum on her win, CNN reported. In a video posted on X, Obrador stated, “With all my affection and respect I congratulate Claudia Sheinbaum who came out victorious with an ample margin. She will be the first (female) President of Mexico… but also the President, possibly, with most votes obtained in all of the history of our country.”
In addition to the Presidential elections, over 20,000 political positions need to be filled, including all seats in the lower house and the Senate and regional and municipal offices, according to Politico report.
Thousands of soldiers were deployed in Mexico to facilitate a peaceful voting day. Despite the security arrangements, a town council candidate was shot to death hours before the election, the report said. One man was kidnapped while voting in a polling station in another town.
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