Alberto Morena (born 1941) was President of Mexico in 2008, interrupting Fernanda Aguirre's terms. Leader of PAN from 2003, he was elected President due to the recovery of the economy and renewed public support for economic liberalism, but his controversial election was met with protests from the defeated majority PRD party, and he was defeated for re-election by Aguirre later that year.
Biography[]
Alberto Morena was born in La Cruz, Sinaloa, Mexico in 1941, and he worked as a agricultural equipment salesman before building his own successful business. In 2000, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a PAN legislator, and, in 2003, he replaced the late Rodrigo Almonte as his party's leader and presidential candidate; he came to power just two weeks before the general election. In the general election, with the inadvertent help of a PRD attack ad against President Cristina Nieves, Morena led his party to a parliamentary majority, winning 41.82% of the vote and 17 seats to the PRI's 39.54% and 16 seats and the PRD's 18.63% and 7 seats. At the ensuing presidential election, however, Morena narrowly lost with 38.8% to Nieves' 39.8%.
Presidency[]
After several close presidential bids, Morena finally won at the 2008 election (54.9% turnout) with 35.2% of the vote to PRI candidate Cristina Nieves' 33.5% and PRD incumbent Fernanda Aguirre's 31.3%. This was in spite of the PRD controlling 17/40 (43.76%) Chamber seats, followed by PAN with 12/40 (28.93%) and the PRI with 11/40 (27.32%). Morena's win came as a surprise to many, and it was met with PRD protests. The Chamber went on to vote 25-1 to approve an air pollution monitor (with almost the entire PRI delegation abstaining). A sporting victory raised happiness amid the five weeks of PRD protests, but the protests ultimately achieved their goal of mobilizing the electorate against the PAN government. The Chamber went on to vote 27-6 to keep sex education and 20-15 to approve a presidential term limit of 4 terms (although the bill failed to meet the threshold, thanks to PRI opposition and abstentions within PAN), and the PRD gained popularity after donating $20 million to tsunami relief efforts. The Chamber went on to vote 29-7 against legalizing prostitution, and, in the elections of late 2008, the PRD won 47.74% of the vote and 19 seats, PAN fell to 27.94% and 11 seats, and the PRI fell to 24.33% and 10 seats. The PAN defector to the PRD, Cristina Errazuriz, returned to the Chamber, while PRD candidate Gustavo Grijalva was elected for the first time. In the ensuing presidential election, Aguirre was re-elected with 35.8% of the vote to Morena's 34.2% and Nieves' 29.9%.