Mexico City mayor declines presidential run to focus on rebuilding effort

MEXICO CITY - Mexico City mayor, Miguel Angel Mancera, on Saturday refused to abandon his position to lead the presidential campaign of a new coalition of parties ahead of the 2018 elections.

In a statement, Mancera thanked the newly formed alliance, "Por Mexico al Frente" (Ahead for Mexico), for the offer, but stated his focus had to remain on rebuilding Mexico City after the September earthquake which killed 228 people in the capital.

Speaking to the press, Mancera explained that "today, my duty is here with the inhabitants of Mexico City, I remain as the first person responsible for the reconstruction of my city."

The alliance is being formed by the right-wing National Action Party (PAN) and the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and Citizen Movement (MC).

While Mancera was one of the main drivers behind the coalition and had expressed interest in running for president for the PRD, the three parties decided to field a candidate from PAN.

Mancera was invited to run the campaign of the eventual pick but the mayor said that only running for president directly would make him step down.

The 2018 election is expected to be hotly contested between the current two favorites, Jose Antonio Meade, former finance minister and candidate from the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who will run for the third time. He founded the PRD but after two failed attempts, created the National Regeneration Movement (Morena).