Claudia Sheinbaum is leading Mexico’s polls with the upcoming election scheduled for June 2. If elected Sheinbaum will make history as Mexico’s first woman president.
Presidents in Mexico are allowed a maximum of six years in office. Sheinbaum has emerged as the most popular choice to replace the current leader of Morena party and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also known as AMLO.
If she wins, Sheinbaum will be adding the title to her long list of notable accolades that she has achieved in her life including her Ph.D., a shared Nobel Peace Prize, and being the first woman to lead Mexico City, one of the largest cities in the Western Hemisphere.
Now 61 years old, Sheinbaum is the favorite to take over the left-leaning Morena party. Although her critics question her ability to define herself as a leader and fear she will live in the shadow of Obrador and his values which she has historically been closely aligned with.
One political analyst said, “Sheinbaum has always been disciplined and strategic, she’s not going to be as radical as AMLO,” said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a Mexican political analyst, quoted by Al Jazeera. AMLO and his most famous policy titled “hugs not bullets,” was aimed at demilitarizing the country´s drug cartel problem.
Sheinbaum´s competition is another women candidate named Xochitl Gálvez. She is a Conservative leader of PAN party and former mayor of Mexico City’s Miguel Hidalgo borough.
Having two women leading the polls is particularly unique against the backdrop of Mexico´s patriarchal mentality. The political race has been enthralled in violence, with at least 34 political candidates or applicants being murdered over the past year through gang violence trying to influence the election result, CNN reported.
Despite winning over the majority, Claudia Sheinbaum has not managed to gain support from the feminist community.
Recognizing the importance of getting women on her side, Sheinbaum has been focusing on her career and what she says her party has done for women in Mexico. However, not everyone agrees, and have denounced her for “inflating figures regarding past success stories and denying the failures,” according to El Pais.
In the recent presidential debate, the candidate was caught out when she said that in 2018, the number of femicides had fallen by 42%, however, official data shows the drop was only 7.5% much lower than the figure Sheinbaum gave.
Gender-based violence is extremely prevalent in Mexico, with around 10 women murdered a day. Activists claimed the candidate and the Morena party do not have a “gender-focused perspective on the country.”
In addition, Sheinbaum was also in charge of the capital when Metro Line 12 collapsed in Mexico City, causing 26 deaths. Few political responsibilities were assumed, and although eight officials were linked to crime, no senior government member was prosecuted, which led to national outrage with many still demanding an appropriate response.
In the lead-up to the election process, accusations were made implying the voting process was unfair. The likely president posted a video on YouTube this week to debunk the “myths” about herself and the Morena party. One of which claimed Morena had tried to financially bribe people for votes, “this is completely false, you are free to vote for who you would like,” she declared in the video.