The Mexican Senate today approved the controversial ‘Federal Labour Law’ by 100 votes in favour and 28 against.

The law is the first major labour reform in Mexico in over four decades and among other objectives, aims to increase the flexibility of hiring workers and to regulate outsourcing more heavily.

The World Bank warned the Mexican government that this law should be part of a larger plan to reform Mexico’s labour market.

“A complete strategy is needed, that includes legislative reforms if necessary, but also reforms in other fiscal areas, the building of infrastructure, better and more education for there to be more productivity,” explained Samuel Freije Rodríguez, spokesman for the World Bank at the presentation of the 2013 Global Development Report.

Lawmakers could not agree on 50 articles of the law that were put aside for more in-depth analysis and will be further debated. Among these are those that touch upon the rights of Mexico’s powerful labour unions.

Among the contested articles are measures to democratise the election of union leaders and increase transparency in union spending.

The labour unions, Frente Sindical Mexicano (FSM) and Congreso del Trabajo (CT) decided to unite against the reform and to pursue legal and social action against it.

The law was originally proposed by outgoing President Felipe Calderón from the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) but was later modified to accommodate the demands of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).

Mexican labour unions have historically aligned with the PRI whose candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto, won the last presidential elections and is set to take office in December.

Some Senators from left-wing parties and the PAN opposed the modified law and will demand that the law be restored to its original version during the upcoming debates. If they succeed, the law will have to return to the Senate for a new vote.

Mexico’s centre-right party has elected Josefina Vázquez Mota to run for the country’s presidency.

Vázquez won the National Action Party’s (PAN) nationwide polls on Sunday, making her the first female candidate with strong credentials to lead its campaign for its third consecutive term.

The former minister of education secured 55% of the votes, giving her a strong lead over her closest rivals. The former finance minister, Ernesto Cordero and former Secretary of the Interior, Santiago Creel, took 38% and 5% of the votes, respectively.

Vázquez is a financial journalist and businesswoman who has also written several self-help books. She turned her hand to politics in 2000, backing President Felipe Calderón in his election campaign in 2006.

A combination of a conciliatory model and strong policies has been the core of her presidential campaign. Vázquez declared yesterday that she will maintain the party’s strategy of using military deployment against drug trafficking cartels. Promising “continuity with change,” she sought to distance herself from Calderón, who has recently accused her of flirting with the left.

In a press conference that followed the campaign announcement yesterday, Vázquez emphasised her image as a woman and mother of three.

“I am going to be the first female president in the history of our country,” said the 51-year-old candidate to an applauding crowd. “I am going to look after your family as I have looked after my own.”

Most opinion polls place her 20% behind Enrique Peña Nieto, the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The centrist PRI held the presidency for an uninterrupted 71-year term until a pluralist voting system was set in place in 2000.

As Caldrón’s term comes to an end, Mexico’s violent war on drugs and chronic economic problems continue unabated, posing a great challenge for his successor.