Mexican Interior Minister Santiago Creel Wednesday said he had handed in his resignation to seek the candidacy of his party to run for president of Mexico. Creel said he would seek the candidacy of the ruling National Action Party (PAN) in a primary, and then run for the presidency, DPA reported. If he obtains the candidacy, Creel, who is the favourite among several PAN contenders, said he would seek the "consolidation of democracy" in Mexico. Creel would remain at the job until Thursday, when a new interior minister is to be announced, a spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox said. In polls released Monday, the PAN has slipped to third place in voter preference for the 2006 elections. In 2000, PAN achieved a historic victory by ousting the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), in power for 71 years.
