PRI Elects Paredes Party Leader

Mexican political party PRI has elected Beatriz Paredes as the president of its national executive committee. Paredes beat off former senator Enrique Jackson to become the replacement for incumbent party leader Mariano Palacios. Paredes was formerly the governor of the state of Tlaxcala. The PRI dominated Mexican political life for over 70 years but has been in decline since it lost the presidency to Vicente Fox and his PAN party in 2000. It came third in last year’s general elections behind Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador’s PRD. The challenge facing Paredes is to transform the PRI into a credible party in the eyes of Mexican voters and to build alliances with the current administration.