Mexico divided over govt energy reform plan -poll

MEXICO CITY, May 12 (Reuters) - Mexican voters are split over a proposal by President Felipe Calderon to reform the energy sector, but a substantial slice of the population has yet to make up its mind on the plan, a poll showed on Monday.

Calderon, a conservative, is trying to convince lawmakers and voters to back his proposal to give private companies a bigger say in the struggling state-run oil sector. He presented the plan last month.

The reform bid has the support of just 29 percent of voters, while 27 percent oppose it and the rest have not made up their minds or do not have a position, a poll published in El Universal newspaper found.

Leftists oppose the proposal and have used protests in Congress to slow it down and force several months of televized debate on the bill that began last week. The leftists, led by former presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also accuse Calderon of using fraud to steal the 2006 presidential election.

No political party has a majority in Congress, but a key centrist party has said it likes the general look of Calderon's plan. The centrists, who could give Calderon enough votes to pass the legislation, nevertheless have criticized parts of it.

Lopez Obrador is currently giving speeches in city squares across the country to urge people to reject Calderon's proposal. The left has also launched a few television ads criticizing the plan.

The poll surveyed 1,000 people in their homes between April 18 and 23. It has a 3.5 percentage point margin of error. (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by John Picinich)