Significance: On the face of it, the PAN is in pole position to regain the presidency in 2018. The government led by President Enrique Peña Nieto is unpopular and his Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) is suffering by association. High-level corruption in the party’s ranks also took its toll on the PRI in the gubernatorial, state legislative and municipal elections in June when it lost control of previously unassailable bastions. The PAN was the chief beneficiary then, winning a record haul of seven state governorships: four singlehandedly and three in alliance with the left-wing opposition Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD). Marshalling these electoral successes enabled Anaya, the PAN’s youngest-ever president, to stake his claim to be the party’s presidential candidacy in 2018. He has neither confirmed nor denied his intention to stand, but two other political heavyweights also covet the PAN presidential nomination, meaning the party faces a potentially divisive internal selection process.
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