She walked to the lectern to address her supporters amidst cheers of ‘President, President’. “I want to thank you as well because for the first time in the 200 years of the republic I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” said Claudia Sheinbaum.
In fact, her party didn’t even wait for the official announcement, declaring her as the country’s next President hours earlier. Sheinbaum’s win is a landslide, and the winning percentage is expected to be the highest in Mexico’s history.
She won the presidency with between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico’s electoral authority. She is the first woman to win a general election in the US, Mexico or Canada.
It was always going to be a historic election with Mexicans heading into polling booths that showed a woman was expected to take charge of the highest office in the country.
For weeks before the election, leftist Claudia Sheinbaum, who belongs to the same party as President Obrador, was leading polls ahead of her closest rival, also a woman – Xochitl Galvez.
Sheinbaum counts the current President Obrador, also called AML among her key supporters and political mentor and belongs to the left-leaning MORENA party and she benefited from his backing. He took to X to congratulate her and thank the Mexicans.
HISTORIC WIN FOR SHEINBAUM IN MEXICO
In her victory speech, Sheinbaum said, “We will have an honest government, free of influences, without corruption nor impunity. Our government will have republican austerity, financial and fiscal discipline, and with autonomy for the Bank of Mexico. There will not be real price hikes for fuel and electricity. We will keep the necessary division between political and economic power.”
Sheinbaum’s election is a big win for women in a country where women were not even allowed to vote till 1953. The former mayor of Mexico city, Sheinbaum comes from a family of Jewish heritage and is a climate scientist.
In 2007, she also contributed to a report on climate change that went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Her critics have labelled her a puppet of President Obrador.
Mexico’s current President could not seek another term in office. In Mexico, the President’s term is limited to one six-year term in office.
MEXICO’S VIOLENCE-HIT ELECTION
Sheinbaum’s task is cut out for her. This has been the most bloody election on record in Mexico’s modern history. As many as 38 candidates have been assassinated in the run-up to polling day.
Two people were killed at polling stations in Puebla state on voting day. The issue of violent crime has emerged as one of the top in this year’s presidential contest, in which the ruling party of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been forced to defend a persistently high murder rate, as the opposition has sought to use the bloodshed to argue for change.
Relations with the US will also be closely watched as Mexico’s neighbour, the US, heads into elections in November. Immigration is already a heated topic on the campaign trail and who sits in the Oval office will play a crucial role in deciding Mexico’s relationship with the US.
