Mexican ruling party insiders fear embattled president a liability

MEXICO CITY: Mexican ruling party lawmakers fear President Enrique Pena Nieto's lurch into scandal, weak economic record and struggle to tame corruption could hurt them in upcoming elections, raising pressure on him to take bold steps or shake up the cabinet.

Pena Nieto's approval rating has slumped to as low as 25 percent since events began to spiral out of control with the September abduction and apparent massacre of 43 trainee teachers by corrupt police and a drug gang in southwest Mexico.

Slow to respond to the crisis, Pena Nieto never visited the scene. He was then caught in a separate row over conflicts of interest when it emerged that he, his wife, and his finance minister had all bought or used homes built by a firm that has won millions of dollars in government contracts on his watch.

"It shouldn't have happened," Patricio Flores, a lawmaker in the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), said tersely of the homes scandal even as he tried to deflect blame from Pena Nieto. "It's a fact that it's helped other parties."

In public, PRI officials are reluctant to criticise their president, who insists he has broken no laws.

But privately, many are exasperated at his handling of the crisis, which has hit support for the party ahead of mid-term legislative elections in June.

Around two dozen PRI lawmakers and government officials consulted by Reuters said Pena Nieto needs to make a move to reassert his leadership, if necessary by removing trusted aides from his cabinet.

Pena Nieto and his PRI lawmakers in Congress started well, working with the opposition to pass a string of reforms to overhaul the economy, culminating in an energy overhaul that ended Mexico's 75-year-old oil and gas monopoly.

But Pena Nieto's ability to implement those reforms and make Mexico's economy more competitive will suffer if he cannot restore his credibility.

"We can't carry on as before or we're going to lose the presidency," said one PRI federal lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, with an eye on the next presidential election in 2018.

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Mexican ruling party insiders fear embattled president a liability