MEXICO CITY — Mexican independent candidate Margarita Zavala — the lone woman contender — on Wednesday withdrew from the July 1 presidential election, potentially boosting the second-placed contender, a former colleague in the center-right National Action Party (PAN).
In an interview with broadcaster Televisa, Zavala, who has been trailing in polls, said she was quitting the race out of “political honesty.”
Reuters news agency reported the peso currency rose against the dollar after the news became public, with traders saying the rise may have reflected beliefs that Zavala’s withdrawal would benefit a business-friendly candidate.
Jorge Guajardo, a close adviser to Zavala and former Mexican ambassador to China, said that Zavala would not be throwing her support behind any of the remaining candidates.
A survey published on Tuesday by polling firm Consulta Mitofsky said Zavala had the backing of 2.7 percent of voters, placing her last in a field of five contenders.
Leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has a strong lead in most polls, and was running more than 12 percentage points ahead of his closest rival, Ricardo Anaya, in the Mitofsky survey.
Anaya, a former chairman of the PAN, is running for a right-left alliance. Zavala was a member of the PAN until she quit to run as an independent last October, complaining that the party leadership had thwarted her presidential aspirations.
The Mexican peso extended gains to a session high against the dollar, rising around 0.7 percent against the dollar, after Zavala’s decision became public.
Some traders said the peso may have risen because Zavala’s withdrawal helped Anaya, who is regarded as closer to the business establishment than López Obrador.
Soon after the news, Anaya took to Twitter to praise Zavala as a “courageous woman” and pay tribute to her campaign.
Though support for Zavala was modest, her departure does remove one factor of uncertainty from the election.
Source: Reuters news agency
