Elections in Mexico: Xóchitl Gálvez facing a debate that he must win

To the presidential candidate of the opposition of Mexico, Xochitl Galvezher chances of becoming a real challenger to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s chosen candidate are running out, as polls show she is losing by a wide margin with just five weeks left until the elections.

On Sunday, in the second of three debates against the favorite Claudia Sheinbaum, Galvez will try to come back.

The opposition challenger, a senator who has a knack for making scathing comments about López Obrador, attracted enough attention last year to earn the backing of three of the four main opposition parties. But her support among voters has stagnated, in part because of her coalition’s disorganized strategy and her own mistakes.

The second debate, with the June 2 elections just around the corner, is one of the last opportunities he has before a national audience to reestablish his image as a major rival.

“He had the opportunity three weeks ago and it failed drastically; So, it’s the last bullet she has, the last bullet“, said Carlos Pérez Ricart, associate professor of International Relations at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics. ““He will have to use it very intelligently.”

The Bloomberg Electoral Barometer showed a difference of 28 points between Galvez and Sheinbaum until this Friday, with 32% of voters saying they would support the opposition candidate. A third candidate, Jorge Álvarez Máynez, is far behind.

Sheinbaum He entered the race with the strong support of the president, which has contributed to his popularity. She is less charismatic than her mentor and has worked to attract sectors that generally do not support her leadership, explaining to business leaders her energy transition plans and growth strategies in states that are least supportive of her leadership. Current administration.

speak from the heart

But the next debate, scheduled for 8 pm in Mexico City, may work in favor of Galvez.

The candidates will debate economic growth, employment and inflation, topics that could give Gálvez more space to present herself as the pro-business candidate. She has criticized Lopez Obrador for its management in the energy sector and for not improving safety conditions.

A campaign staff member who worked for a Gálvez adviser said preparations for the first debate were rigorous, but focused too much on statistics for the candidate to recite them. This time, he added, she will have to speak from the heart, which is how she best connects with the public.

It will be an opportunity, and at the same time a challenge, for Galvez Improve your direct criticism strategy, which has shown signs of being counterproductive. He gained followers by dressing up as a dinosaur in the Senate to show how retrograde the ruling party’s ideas were and demanding the right to participate in the president’s press conference during the same time. But commentators have highlighted Sheinbaum’s unflappable demeanor as more presidential (Gálvez called her “The ice lady” in the previous debate).

Political analysts have also questioned whether Galvez She has enough experience to develop a political strategy, while Sheinbaum has the advantage of having been the head of government of Mexico City.

Galveza businesswoman who has highlighted her indigenous and working class origin, fought from the beginning of the campaign to win the unequivocal support of the different parties that make up the opposition coalition, whose actors are the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and the National Action (PAN), in addition to the smaller PRD.

He has tried to present himself as officially unaffiliated with any party, to avoid criticism of his performance when he held public office in the 2000s and early 2010s, before López Obrador’s landslide victory in 2018.

“It does not have the presence of statesperson, basically you cannot change it”says Alejandro Schtulman, director of the analysis firm EMPRA. “There is also the problem that she lacks that structure of a party, she is having to be very friendly with the people of the PRI, hang out with people from the PRD, in the PAN they don’t like her very much either.”.

However, one of the main advisors of Galvezformer Minister of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo, said that Gálvez is the best candidate to attract foreign investment to Mexico.

At an event this week in Mexico City organized by Bloomberg, Guajardo also offered a possible preview of the attack line of Galvez during the debate. She told market-savvy attendees that she is best equipped to address infrastructure deficiencies that may discourage companies looking to relocate closer to the U.S. market from choosing Mexico.

“We could have a rescue mechanism to be able to invest in what is today the main bottleneck for the development of industrial parks, which is energy supply and infrastructure.”said Guajardo. Regarding Gálvez, he added, “She is a woman for pragmatic solutions. No, she does not have ideologized elements that prevent her from seeing which decisions best benefit Mexicans.”.