TEHRAN, April 03 - Mexican left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has an 18-point lead ahead of the July 1 election, according to a poll published on Monday that showed him with a growing advantage at the start of formal campaigning.
T
EHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC)-Mexican left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has an 18-point lead ahead of the July 1 election, according to a poll published on Monday that showed him with a growing advantage at the start of formal campaigning.
Lopez Obrador, who launched his campaign on Sunday, holds 38 percent of the vote, according to the poll by Parametria, published by Reuters on Monday ahead of wider distribution. That compared to 35 percent in its previous poll.
A Lopez Obrador victory could usher in a Mexican government less accommodating toward the United States, where President Donald Trump has stoked trade tensions with Mexico and aggressively moved to curb immigration.
Lopez Obrador has backed the North American Free Trade Agreement, but his plan to review newly issued oil contracts sparked worries he will deter foreign investment.
One of the factors that appeared to extend his lead was the expulsion of two independent hopefuls from the ballot for not reaching the required number of signatures.
The previous poll is not an exact comparison because it included the now-disqualified candidates.
Neither second-place Ricardo Anaya nor third-place Jose Antonio Meade showed any sign of catching up with former Mexico City mayor Lopez Obrador.
“Lopez Obrador is breaking his ceiling ... he’s growing in a way that wasn’t expected,” Parametria founder Francisco Abundis said.
Anaya, running for the right-left “For Mexico in Front” coalition, holds 20 percent of vote preferences, compared with 21 percent in the previous poll.
Source:Reuters