Mexico's Party of the Democratic Revolution Elects Two New National Leaders

Mexico's Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, has elected two new national leaders.

Agustin Basave and Beatriz Mojica got 295 out of the 304 votes from PRD councilors participating in the election, Fox News Latino reported. The two triumphed over Fernando Belaunzaran and Celso David Pulido, and Onel Ortiz and Liliana Garcia.

According to Fox News Latino, Basave is the leftist party's chairman until 2017. He succeeded Carlos Navarrete, who resigned from office on Friday alongside secretary-general Hector Miguel Bautista. Basave holds a political science degree from Oxford University and represented the northern state of Nuevo Leon in Congress. He is also an academic, politician, journalist, and diplomat.

Basave served as Mexico's ambassador to Ireland in 2001-2004, the news outlet added. Aside from these, he was the executive secretary of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean, or COPPPAL, and was Fundacion Colosio's chairman.

Mojica is the PRD's new secretary-general, Fox News Latino further reported. She ran for governor in the southern state of Guerrero in the June 7 elections. In addition, she was Guerrero's social development secretary, has served on the PRD National Council, and was one of the party's founding members.

Elections for the PRD's National Executive Committee will take place on Nov. 21, Fox News Latino noted.

PRD Proposes Coalition for 2016 Elections

Earlier this month, the PRD proposed that Mexico's left-wing groups create a coalition for next year's state elections, teleSUR reported. The party has been expecting to lose many constituencies to the new leftist Morena party, which is known to be more progressive.

In an open letter issued to Mexico's left-wing forces, the PRD insisted that unity is highly important to address the violence, corruption, and organized crime currently pervading the country's rule of law, the news outlet added.

"We believe that the social and political conditions demand a large electoral coalition able to govern, in which would converge political parties, social organizations and citizens," the party said, as quoted by teleSUR. In their open letter, the PRD calls for a meeting with the groups Morena, Movimiento Ciudadano, and the Partido del Trabajo.

Luisa Cortes Garcia, Morena's president, has rejected the PRD's proposal in a press conference, saying that the only alliance they need is "with the people" and that they are the "only left-wing party, as the others are allied with the regime," teleSUR further reported.

The PRD is presently facing controversies as many of its public officials have been connected to corruption cases. This includes the mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca, who was allegedly the mastermind of the Ayotzinapa case involving the disappearance of dozens of male college students, the news outlet noted.