Mexico's Supreme Court on Friday elected a new president with justices narrowly backing a career judge over another candidate who had worked for decades as a lawyer.
After more than 30 inconclusive rounds of voting, justices voted 6-4 to elect Luis Maria Aguilar, who was nominated to the high court by former President Felipe Calderon in 2009, over Arturo Zaldivar. Both are currently justices on the court.
Six of 10 sitting justices vied for the presidency of the court and the vote stretched on through the day in repeated ties since the court is down one member following the death of Justice Sergio Valls in December.
Aguilar, 65, replaces previous President Juan Silva Meza, 70, and he will serve for a four-year term. President Enrique Pena Nieto has yet to nominate candidates to fill the court's eleventh seat who will then have to be approved by the Senate.
