Mexican leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador handed over to the former mayor of the capital, Claudia Sheinbaum, who won the party primaries the day before, the baton of power of the indigenous peoples of the region – a symbolic element expressing trust and recognition of the power of its holder, as well as the authority of the party leader.
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“We are driven by love and the hope to change the lives of millions of Mexicans. In order for the Fourth Transformation to continue, our President López Obrador has handed over the baton of power to Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum. Together we will continue to transform Mexico,” the Morena National Recovery Movement posted on social media after the ceremony in the center of the capital.
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The former mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, became the winner in the internal vote of the ruling Morena movement in Mexico and will represent this party in the forthcoming presidential elections in 2024.
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At a morning press conference at the National Palace, López Obrador explained that, starting tomorrow, all decisions related to the Morena movement will be made by Dr. Sheinbaum, and he will focus on completing his presidential projects and powers. In the evening, leaving a meeting with the leaders and members of the party he created, he told local media that he was “very pleased” to transfer control to a new leader.
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Lopez Obrador coined the term “Fourth Transformation” after the formation of his movement, before the 2018 elections, thus defining the political course and tasks of his government. In general terms, it can be described as building a welfare state with attention to the most vulnerable segments of the population and its basic rights. The first three periods of deep Mexican state transformation are now considered independence from the Spanish crown, the reform period of Benito Juarez after the war of liberals and conservatives in the 1850s, and the revolution against the regime of Porfirio Diaz in the 1910s.
