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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has grounded his plan to raffle off the country’s $130 million version of Air Force One — opting instead to keep the plane and run a state-sponsored lottery to pay for it, according to news reports.

The socialist president — who has said the pimped-out Boeing 787 Dreamliner he inherited from his predecessor was too fancy for his tastes — claims 100 winners will get $1 million each, and the other $59 million of a total expected $159 million windfall from the raffle will offset the plane’s maintenance costs.

Meanwhile, he’ll keep trying to sell off the unwanted aircraft, El Universal newspaper reported.

“We’re doing this so that we don’t auction it off cheaply, so that we aren’t in a rush,” Lopez Obrador told the paper. “I’m sure that all the tickets will be sold.”

The 6 million raffle tickets are scheduled to go on sale March 1 for 500 pesos each — about $26 — at more than 5,600 vending sites throughout the country, according to the Yucatan Times.

Winners will be picked on Sept. 15, the paper said.

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Mexico's presidential airplane
Mexico's presidential airplaneAFP via Getty Images
A seating area inside Mexico's presidential plane.
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The plane, meanwhile, will remain with the Mexican air force for at least two years while it waits for a willing buyer.

The president, who has opted to fly commercial since taking office, pitched the idea of raffling it off last week, saying he even tried to peddle it to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau without luck.

According to a 2018 EuroNews report, the plane, which was commissioned in 2012 by former President Felipe Calderon and cost $281.7 million to build, has been downsized to seat 80 passengers and includes a wall of flat-screen TVs, a massive bed and a marble bathroom.

Lopez Obrador said proceeds from the plane’s sale could be put to better use helping the needy.

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