MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s interior minister, a close confidant of the popular outgoing president, announced on Tuesday he would leave his post at the end of this week to focus on his bid to win the ruling party’s nod for next year’s presidential election.
Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez’s decision, required under recently adopted MORENA party rules that will determine its standard bearer, adds another contender to a growing list of hopefuls for the internal contest.
Under Mexican law, the interior minister is an especially powerful cabinet member, responsible for security among other duties, and next in line to the presidency.
“I’m not going to resign. I’ve asked the president to relieve me of the position,” Lopez told reporters following a meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, adding he would make the request official on Friday.
Lopez, who is not related to the president, shares the same home state, the Gulf coast’s Tabasco state.
On Monday, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said she would also step down on Friday to campaign for the presidential nomination, joining former Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who was the first party hopeful to announce he would exit his post.
MORENA’s presidential pick will be announced on Sept. 6 after polling to pick a winner.
Opinion polls so far have tended to give the early lead to Sheinbaum, who would be Mexico’s first woman president if successful, with Ebrard often coming in second.
(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Jamie Freed)
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