Mexico’s ruling party faces a major test: Can it avoid falling apart without charismatic president?

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s immensely powerful ruling party may face its biggest test yet Friday, as it announces its candidates for the 2024 gubernatorial elections. The challenge isn’t coming from flagging opposition parties. Rather, the party of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has to prove it can really hold together and prevent the desertion of candidates who weren’t picked — or whether, with the end of term for its charismatic founder, the ideologically diverse party might start falling apart. The stakes are high: one candidate has already bolted from the party before Friday’s announcement.