The Guadalajara Reporter

Candidates covet crucial female vote

As Mexico’s presidential election on July 1 pits a ladies’ man against a woman, the female vote could play a more decisive role than usual.

With Josefina Vazquez Mota of the National Action Party (PAN) gradually gaining ground on him in the polls, Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Peña Nieto is looking to win over the female electorate in order to retain his lead.

This may take more than a flash of those perfect teeth. According to a report published by a major Mexican newspaper, Peña Nieto hopes to do so by focusing on gender equality and even promising better soap operas.

Last week Mural published a draft strategy by the frontrunner’s campaign team entitled “The Women’s Candidate.” Allegedly prepared by campaign coordinator Gerardo Ruiz Esparza and technical secretary Roberto Padilla, the memo calls for the PRI to take the lead in women’s rights and “promote the development of a new, more equal model of social and family life.”

It says Peña Nieto should promise to staff his campaign and government teams with equal numbers of men and women, raise budgets to combat domestic violence and increase female participation in public-sector management roles.

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