Mexico leftist presidential candidate says may roll back energy reform if elected

Leftist front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is pictured during a floral tribute to mark the 212th anniversary of the birth of president Benito Juarez, at the Hemiciclo a Juarez monument in Mexico City, Mexico March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ginnette Riquelme

By Daina Beth Solomon

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The leftist front-runner in Mexico's presidential race said on Wednesday that if elected he would consider passing laws to roll back the opening up of the country's oil and gas sector, the centerpiece of the current government's economic agenda.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, making his third presidential bid in the July 1 election, also pledged to cut violent crime by as much as half in a televised debate late on Wednesday ahead of the formal launch of the election campaign next week.

The 64-year-old former Mexico City mayor is leading in major polls, but has spooked investors with threats to revoke oil contracts issued by President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration by subjecting them to review. Pena Nieto, whose Institutional Revolutionary Party has ruled Mexico for most of the last 100 years, is barred by law from seeking a second six-year presidential term.

The current government forecasts that, as a result of Pena Nieto's 2013-2014 energy reform, some of the world's largest oil companies will ultimately invest tens of billions in Mexico if they succeed in extraction efforts.

Lopez Obrador attacked the reforms in the TV debate with journalists, and called for public input to develop a plan prioritizing national over foreign interests.

"If the energy reform doesn't suit us...even if it takes time we will start a legal process to modify the laws," he said. "Even if it takes us the entire six-year term."

He added that he would "consult the people" on reforms enacted by the current administration, including those on energy and education.

"They are governing with recipes sent from abroad...the reforms don't have to do with our own needs," he said.

Lopez Obrador also said he would reduce violent crime nationwide, including homicides, robberies and kidnappings, by 30-50 percent.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)