Opposition PRI party falls short in Mexican regional vote

Jul 5, 2010, 16:09 GMT

Mexico City - Mexico's opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) fell short in regional elections seen in part as a referendum on President Felipe Calderon's fight against drug cartels, results showed Monday.

The PRI lost power in three states, where it has held power for 80 years, even as it held onto governorships in the majority of the 12 states voting for that post in Sunday's regional elections, according to initial results.

The states of Oaxaca, Puebla and Sinaloa saw the PRI fall out of power, after ruling in alliances with Calderon's ruling National Action Party (PAN) and other leftist parties.

In all, 14 of Mexico's 31 states voted for regional legislatures and 12 chose governors.

The drug violence that has marred the North American country has left more than 23,000 people dead since 2006, including hundreds in the days leading up to the vote. Two candidates were killed, including Rodolfo Torre Cantu, the PRI candidate for governor in the state of Tamaulipas. His brother, Egidio, who stood for election in his place, won the vote.

Calderon has made the fight against gangs and drug cartels a key part of his government programme.

The national opposition PRI, which ran Mexico from 1929 to 2000, had hoped to lay the groundwork for their return to national power in 2012 presidential elections. But political opponents saw the results of regional elections as a sign that is unlikely.

'The return of the old authoritarian PRI regime can be prevented,' said Jesus Ortega, head of the left-leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

PRI leader Beatriz Paredes, however, stressed that the party had shown it remains the strongest political force in Mexico.