The Coming PRD Leadership

This weekend, the PRD decides on Jesús Ortega's successor, with the possibilities being Ortega ally Jesús Zambrano and Dolores Padierna, who is more friendly to AMLO. Another candidate, Armando Ríos, was pushed by Marcelo Ebrard as a compromise candidate, but El Universal says he is probably going to drop out. Predictably, the election is coming amid worries about a rupture splitting the party, which has been a steady drumbeat in any PRD debate since 2007 or so. More concretely, the winner will go a long way to determine whether or not there will be alliances with the PAN in the years to come, with Padierna representing the anti-alliance faction, and Zambrano the pros.