Mexico's ruling party to announce 2024 presidential candidate on Sept. 6

By Diego Oré

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's ruling National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) said on Sunday its candidate for the 2024 presidential election will be announced on Sept. 6 after polling to pick a winner.

Five polls will be held, Alfonso Durazo, MORENA governor of the northern state of Sonora, said following a meeting of the leftist party's leadership in Mexico City aimed at setting out rules for the internal contest.

MORENA has such a commanding lead in opinion polls for the June 2024 election that many analysts view the party's internal race as tantamount to a de facto presidential election.

All those competing for the party's candidacy must step down from public office to campaign, MORENA's board resolved.

That decision had been widely anticipated, and followed what party insiders said was a recommendation made by Lopez Obrador on Monday evening which aimed at keeping his movement united.

"Unity, unity," chanted the contenders during the meeting.

The decision follows months of pressure from Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to have the MORENA hopefuls jockeying for the nomination stand down, arguing that it was the only way to ensure a level playing field in the contest.

Ebrard is one of the leading candidates to secure the presidential nomination, and his attitude had fed concerns that he could split from MORENA and weaken the party. Ebrard said he would stand down from his post on Monday, June 12.

Most recent opinion polls have tended to show Ebrard slightly trailing Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum in the race to win the nomination.

Debates are not expected to happen, but contenders will be able to campaign across Mexico from June 19 to Aug. 27, MORENA party chairman Mario Delgado said. Ebrard has been pressing for debates between the candidates to take place.

The polls will be conducted between Aug. 28 and Sept 3. The party also proposed that whoever wins invite the contenders placing second and third to be part of their campaign and offer them a job in their administration, assuming MORENA wins.

Lots will be drawn to select the four pollsters tasked with carrying out the polling, which also will include one conducted by the party's polling commission, Durazo said.

Some details on the polling are still to be worked out.

Lopez Obrador, whose personal popularity has underpinned support for his party, cannot run again because Mexican law restricts presidents to a single six-year term.

(Reporting by Diego Ore and Dave Graham; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Diane Craft)