Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander in chief of the Mexican Armed Forces.

To be eligible to serve as president, Article 82 of the Constitution specifies that the following requirements must be met: The ban on any sort of presidential re-election dates back to the aftermath of the Porfiriato and the Mexican Revolution, which erupted after Porfirio Díaz's fraudulent victory on his seventh re-election in a row.

[8] Former President Felipe Calderón won with 36.38% of the votes in the 2006 general election, finishing only 0.56% above his nearest rival, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (who contested the official results).

Toward the end of their term, the incumbent president, in consultation with party leaders, selected the PRI's candidate in the next election in a procedure known as el dedazo (transl.

In 1988, the PRI ruptured and the dissidents formed the National Democratic Front with rival center-left parties (now the PRD).

Once the Tribunal declares the election valid, it issues a Constancia de Mayoría (English: Certificate of Plurality, lit.

In addition, the unwritten rules of the PRI allowed them to designate party officials and candidates all the way down to the local level.

They thus had an important (but not exclusive) influence over the political life of the country (part of their power had to be shared with unions and other groups, but as an individual, they had no peers).

The situation remained largely unchanged until the early 1980s when a grave economic crisis created discomfort both in the population and inside the party, and the president's power was no longer absolute but still impressive.

This renewed command helped maintain party discipline and avoided the stagnation associated with a single person holding power for decades, prompting Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa to call Mexico's political system "the perfect dictatorship" since the president's powers were cloaked by democratic practice.

The current rights and powers of the president of Mexico are established, limited and enumerated by Article 89 of the Constitution which include the following: A decree is a legislative instrument that has an expiration date and that is issued by one of the three branches of government.

The president's office may suggest a budget, but at the end of the day, it is Congress that decrees how to collect taxes and how to spend them.

Upon taking office, the President raises their right arm to shoulder-level and takes the following oath: Protesto guardar y hacer guardar la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos y las leyes que de ella emanen, y desempeñar leal y patrióticamente el cargo de Presidente de la República que el pueblo me ha conferido, mirando en todo por el bien y prosperidad de la Unión; y si así no lo hiciere que la Nación me lo demande.Translation: I affirm to follow and uphold the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and the laws that emanate from it, and to perform loyally and patriotically the office of President of the Republic which the people have conferred upon me, in all actions looking after the good and prosperity of the Union; and if I were not to do so, may the Nation demand it of me.Note that Article 83 of the mexican constitution states that the president begins his term at 00:00 (UTC-06:00) on October 1st, so the president assumes the powers of the office at that time, regardless of when the oath is taken.

[14] The Mexican Presidential sash has the colors of the Mexican flag in three bands of equal width, with green on top, white in the center, and red on the bottom, worn from right shoulder to left waist; it also includes the National Seal, in gold thread, to be worn chest-high.

According to Article 35 of the Law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthem, the president must wear the sash at the swearing-in ceremony, when they make their annual State of the Union report to Congress, during the commemoration of the Grito de Dolores on 15 September of each year, and when they receive the diplomatic credentials of accredited foreign ambassadors and ministers.

The official residence and workplace of the president is the National Palace, a building facing the Plaza de la Constitución (Constitution Square) in Mexico City.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador moved the presidential residence back to the National Palace upon the start of his term in 2018.

The designation of the Secretary of the Interior as the immediate successor dates to August 2012, when the changes to the Constitution were published in the Official Journal of the Federation.

[18] Unlike in some other republics, former presidents of Mexico do not continue to be important national figures once out of office, and usually lead a discreet life.

Former president Plutarco Elías Calles had personally selected Cárdenas as his successor, and had hoped to control things from behind the scenes as he had for the previous five years.

He campaigned intensely to have his brother, Raúl Salinas, freed after he was jailed in the early days of Zedillo's term, accused of drug trafficking and planning the assassination of José Francisco Ruiz Massieu.

Carlos Salinas also wrote a book on neo-liberal Mexico, secured a position with the Dow Jones Company in the United States, and worked as a professor at several universities in that country.