MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) and its allies are expected to maintain control of the lower house of Congress in elections on June 6, but with fewer seats, an opinion poll showed Wednesday.
The May 15-18 survey of 1,500 registered voters by polling firm GEA-ISA showed the leftist MORENA winning 209 seats in the 500-seat lower house, compared to the 253 it currently holds.
MORENA’s allies the Green Party and the Labor Party were seen picking up 50 seats between them to ensure a majority, giving their alliance 259 in total, the poll said.
Mexico’s lower house controls the budget and Lopez Obrador has urged voters to ensure his alliance stays in charge of it.
MORENA originally won 191 seats when Lopez Obrador was elected in 2018, but defections and changes of allegiance swelled the party’s ranks. Along with its campaign allies, MORENA captured more than 300 seats in the last election.
According to GEA-ISA, Mexico’s former rulers, the centrist opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party would capture 93 seats in the lower house while the center-right opposition National Action Party was expected to win 77.
The center-left opposition Party of the Democratic Revolution was seen picking up 34 seats.
(Reporting by Raul Cortes, writing by Laura Gottesdiener; Editing by Alistair Bell)
