July 29, 2003 [LINK]

Mexican legislative elections

President Fox's National Action Party (PAN) lost about 50 seats in Mexican legislative elections held on July 3. Opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) gained about 17 seats, while the leftistDemocratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) gained about 40 seats. Fox rejected calls for a new cabinet to be formed, but it is difficult to see how he will be able to govern for the second half of his term without making major concessions on policy. One effect of the big gain for the PRD is to raise hopes for the presidential aspirations of its leader, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, mayor of Mexico City. The party's lackluster former leader, Cuautemoc Cardenas, seems to be falling by the wayside.