Mexico ruling party gets new chief after election loss

Mexico City: The former head of Mexico`s state-run power company became the new president of the ruling party on Tuesday after his predecessor resigned following an election debacle.

Enrique Ochoa Reza, who resigned Friday as director of the Federal Electricity Commission, was sworn in as leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Ochoa, a 43-year-old economist, and lawyer was the only candidate for the job.

He took over from Manlio Fabio Beltrones, who stepped down last month in the wake of the PRI`s historic defeat in gubernatorial elections.

President Enrique Pena Nieto`s party won in just five states and lost its grip on four that it had controlled for decades a result that analysts saw as a punishment by voters fed up with corruption and drug violence.