Mexico's ruling Morena party has ratified a candidate for governor accused of rape, a move which has sparked protests among women's rights activists in the country. 

Former Senator Felix Salgado Macedonio was approved by Morena late Friday to run in the southern state of Guerrero. His candidacy has been supported in recent weeks by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

What is Salgado accused of?

Salgado has been accused of rape by two women, although he has not been charged. Prosecutors in Guerrero are still investigating one of the allegations, after dropping a probe earlier this year into the other as the statute of limitations had run out.

Salgado, and the Morena party, have denied the claims. Progressive President Lopez Obrador has said the rape allegations against Salgado are being brought up by the conservative political opposition.

"All of a sudden, the conservatives are disguising themselves as feminists, they see it as an opportunity to attack us,'' the president said last week, while defending his record as a proponent of women's rights.

In a statement defending its decision Friday, Morena said it could not "violate essential rights, such as the presumption of innocence."

Lopez Obrador has said the issue should be decided by voters in Guerrero.

Women's rights protests

Thousands of women's rights activists in Mexico City protested Salgado's candidacy on International Women's Day last week. Dozens of people were reported injured as some of the protesters clashed with police outside the presidential palace.

During the marches, activists projected feminist slogans onto the palace facade, including a message saying "a rapist will not be governor."

"The ratification of Salgado Macedonio is an insult to Mexico, especially to Mexican women," Adriana Aguilar, the head of women's issues for Mexico's opposition National Action Party, said on Twitter.

"It has become clear that Lopez Obrador and Morena do not care about women," she added.

wmr/mm (Reuters, AP)