By Diego Oré
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico's Senate on Thursday approved the resignation of Attorney General Alejandro Gertz.
The resignation of the 86-year-old lawyer had been the subject of speculation amid scrutiny of President Claudia Sheinbaum's government over security issues.
Earlier, Sheinbaum answered a question at her daily news conference, saying she had received a letter from the Senate regarding Gertz's possible resignation, was reviewing it, and would provide an update on Friday.
"I received a document from the Senate that I'm analyzing," Sheinbaum said.
The high-profile murder in early November of Carlos Manzo, mayor of Uruapan, a city in the violence-ravaged state of Michoacan, has heightened the scrutiny of government security issues.
Gertz, who had served as attorney general since 2019, was originally appointed for a nine-year term set to run until 2028.
The Senate approved his resignation with 74 votes in favor and 22 against, with no abstentions. Sheinbaum now has to submit three candidates for attorney general to the Senate, which would then appoint a successor via a two-thirds majority vote.
Local media outlets have mentioned Ernestina Godoy, the former Mexico City attorney general and current legal adviser to the president, as a possible successor to Gertz.
The government has not commented on who might be the next attorney general.
(Reporting by Diego Ore; Writing by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)
