Mexicans began voting for a new president today with the opposition party that dominated the country for most of the past century poised for a comeback after the ruling conservatives failed to provide strong growth or halt a brutal drugs war.
Twelve years after the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) lost power, polls show its candidate, Enrique Pena Nieto, heading into the vote with a double-digit lead over his opponents, despite lingering doubts about the party.
Tainted by corruption, electoral fraud and occasional bouts of brutal authoritarianism during its 71 years in power, the PRI was voted out in 2000. But it has bounced back, helped by the economic malaise and a tide of lawlessness that have plagued Mexico under the conservative National Action Party, or PAN.
Election officials solemnly looked on as a giant red, white and green national flag was hoisted in the capital before polls opened at 8am (1pm Irish time). The first national exit polls are expected when voting ends in the westernmost part of the country 12 hours later.
Miguel Angel Islas (57) a salesman heading to vote in Mexico City's Condesa district, said the ruling conservatives had failed to keep the country safe or guarantee economic progress.
"The country is really worn out, emotionally and economically," he said. "We need the PRI back in power, these guys don't know how to run the country."
After ending the PRI's rule in 2000, the PAN raised hopes of a new dawn for democracy in Mexico. But years of weak growth and the death of more than 55,000 people in drug-related killings since 2007 have eroded its popularity.
Pena Nieto, a youthful-looking former governor of the State of Mexico, stepped into the breach, establishing himself as the new face of the PRI with the aid of favorable media coverage led by Mexico's most powerful broadcaster, Televisa.
He insists the PRI is now a modern democratic party. While some Mexicans are not convinced, Pena Nieto has persuaded many that his party has learned from its mistakes.
"The PRI has changed," said Gloria Velazquez, a 35-year-old street vendor in Mexico City. "And it's learned that it needs to leave more money for the people."
Bidding to become the country's first woman president, PAN candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota lies third in the polls, and Pena Nieto's closest challenger, former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is also burdened by his past.
The front-runner for much of the 2006 race, Lopez Obrador ultimately lost by half a point to President Felipe Calderon of PAN and refused to accept defeat.
Claiming fraud, he led massive protests in the capital for weeks, bringing much of Mexico City to a standstill and alienating even some of his supporters.
Though his bid in this campaign surged late on when a wave student-led opposition to the PRI boosted his ratings, polls suggest Lopez Obrador will fall some way short of the 35 percent of votes he won in 2006.
Reuters