MEXICO CITY: Mexico City’s mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced on Monday her resignation from office in order to launch her campaign for the presidency. With the upcoming election to succeed Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Sheinbaum has emerged as the frontrunner and aims to make history as the first woman to lead Mexico.

Sheinbaum expressed her ambition to shape the destiny of the nation. Her resignation will take effect on Friday, paving the way for her to focus on her candidacy for the ruling Morena party.

Sheinbaum will face competition from other prominent figures within Morena, including former foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard and the current interior minister, Adan Augusto Lopez, in the party’s primary race. The presidential election is scheduled for June of the following year.

Since assuming the role of mayor in 2018, Sheinbaum has governed Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis. If successful in her bid for the presidency, she would become the first woman to govern the country with Latin America’s second-largest economy, after Brazil.

Among the Morena candidates, Sheinbaum is viewed as the candidate closest to Lopez Obrador, whose party is favoured to retain the presidency for another six-year term, regardless of the eventual candidate, as indicated by polling data.

It is worth noting that Mexican presidents are limited to serving a single term. Sheinbaum expressed confidence in her early poll numbers, stating, “The early polls that have been carried out put us in the first place, and I am sure it will stay this way.”