Gómez Mont calls for second round elections

In his formal testimony before the Chamber of Deputies, Government Minister Fernando Gómez Mont called for a political reform that would include several measures already promoted by PRI Senate Leader Manlio Fabio Beltrones, including mechanisms for enhanced citizen participation, such as plebiscites or referenda, the reelection of mayors and congressmen, reducing the size of Congress, and greater accountability. Gómez Mont also put on the agenda second round elections in the event that no candidate achieved a majority of the vote. “The search for greater governability demands that we analyze if the second round is a useful mechanism to consolidate political legitimacy in our country,” Gómez Mont said. Beltrones seemed to dismiss the second round proposal, saying that it would only create “artificial majorities” and increase costs. (Excelsior 9/18, Reforma 9/20)G

PRI demands cuts in bureaucracy

PRI Senate leader Manlio Fabio Beltrones demanded that the government make larger cuts in government spending as a condition for supporting the economic package. “The geometric growth in the top level bureaucracy in recent years, which we have documented, is evidence of the irresponsibility of conservative governments in the management of the public patrimony,” he said. The PRI in the Senate released a study showing that the headcount in the 23 agencies controlled by the President increased from 522,000 in 2004 to 644,000 in 2009 – up 23%.  Over the same period, the number of highly paid officials (those earning more than Ps. 100,000/month and receiving fringe benefits of more than Ps. 700,000 per year) increased from 4,612 to 7,568 – an increase of 64%. PAN Senate leader Gustavo Madero said the report was “worthy of study” and that the PAN and the government were prepared to review the size of the bureaucracy. (Excelsior 9/10-11, Reforma 9/13)

Poll: Peña Nieto tops popularity rankings

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A survey taken prior to the elections confirms Enrique Peña Nieto’s position as the Mexican political figure with the highest approval rating, although his name recognition lags slightly behind President Calderón and AMLO. Beatriz Paredes, the PRI party president and architect of the election campaign comes in second among priistas, while Senate leader Manlio Fabio Beltrones lags badly. Among panistas, only Josefina Vázquez Mota, the former cabinet secretary and likely leader of the PAN in Congress, and Senator Santiago Creel ranked highly. The top-ranked perredistas are Marcelo Ebrard and former Michoacán governor Lázaro Cárdenas. López Obrador’s net approval rating fell from 4.8 in March/April 09 to 4.0 in June. Writing separately about “Golden Boy” Peña Nieto, political scientist Denise Dresser finds in him the model for the PRI’s election victory: “A carefully thought-out, perfectly planned equation: pretty face + money + broadcast TV + advertising + the PRI dinosaurs = electoral victory.” (Excelsior 7/13, Reforma 7/13)

(Net positive rating: % approval – % disapproval; Approval index = weighted average score, 1-10 scale)

Beltrones pitches for political reform

PRI Senate coordinator Manlio Fabio Beltrones published a Reforma oped that endorses a sweeping political reform agenda, while at the same time saying the elections will mean “the end of divided and the beginning of shared government.” As Beltrones lays them out, the eight points are:

1. Ratification of cabinet members by the Senate. This will ensure that the leaders of the institutions will be the most capable and honest Mexicans, not just those who are closest and most loyal.

2. Reduction in the size of the Congress. No proportional election seats in the Senate, and a reduction of 100 Deputies of proportional representation.

3. Immediate reelection of legislators and municipal officials, in order to make politics a profession and to bring representatives closer to their electors.

4. Reorganization of the Federal Government, in order to reduce outlays, avoid duplication, and make the government work better and cost less.

5. Popular referenda on transcendental constitutional questions, in order to integrate citizen participation in national affairs.

6. Revocation of mandates, with sufficient limitations to prevent the abuse of this citizen instrument, in order to return to the people the ability to demand accountability from those who govern.

7. Accountability, giving to the Superior Auditor of the Federation broader powers, and making it the sole responsible body for combating governmental impunity, negligence, and corruption.

8. Modern economic regulation, with functional and operational autonomy for the Cofetel, Cofeco y Cofemer, in order to recover the guiding role of the State.

Parties unite in rejecting Zedillo’s call for fiscal reform

Former president Ernesto Zedillo said in a speech that the economic measures taken to date were inadequate and that Mexico needed a new fiscal reform. He said:

We have to carry out a definitive fiscal reform, that gives financial solidity to the Mexican State, and enables it to carry out its responsibilities….Unfortunately, the petroleum wealth, that has given us so much has, in certain measure, also taken much from us. It has taken away our willingness to face responsibly the recognition that we are a country with needs.”

Congressional leaders of all three parties united in attacking Zedillo. PRI Senate leader Manlio Fabio Beltrones called his statements “verbal incontinence.”  Senator Carlos Navarrete of the PRD said that “Zedillo is mistaken in his diagnosis; he contributes very little with his opinion.”  Emilio Gamboa, PRI leader in the Chamber, said Zedillo was “irresponsible.” His PAN counterpart Héctor Larios said, “The tax laws, without any doubt, need to be reformed, however it’s not prudent or appropriate to revise them in the middle of a global economic crisis.” (Reforma 5/18, 19)

Scandal forms the scenery for elections

Joaquin López-Doriga’s column in Milenio is a good summary of the political environment:

With the passage of the weeks, scandal has been the constant. The book of Ahumada, from whom everyone is trying to distance themselves, without being able to deny their own past; Madrazo’s own book, as part of his effort at reinvention, accusing ex-presidents Ernesto Zedillo and Vicente Fox of ties to drug trafficking; the statements of Miguel De la Madrid recognizing that he made a mistake in selecting Carlos Salinas, talking of relationships with drug trafficking and mentioning the name of two of his brothers, Raúl and Enrique, and the civil death that Salinas decreed on his predecessor, annulling the judgment and condemning de la Madrid to political limbo; the YouTube video of Fidel Herrera and the efforts to censor the Internet; the accusations of drug trafficking against a brother of Ricardo Monreal, his saying that Amalia García has ties with organized crime, her response calling him a coward, and the counter reply saying that the governor and her daughter, Senator Claudia Corichi, were oriental queens and princesses; the flight of 53 prisoners from the jail in Zacatecas, freed by an armed commando; the dismantling of a protection network for the Beltrán Leyvas in Morelos after discovering a safe house only 100 meters from the governor’s mansion in Cuernavaca; the firing of the state attorney general, the detentions of the state minister for public safety and the Cuernavaca police chief; and the call by Manlio Fabio Beltrones to all ex-presidents to shut up until July 5^th. These form the scenery against which the ongoing electoral process will yield the lowest rate of citizen participation in response to the use of scandal and double talk, cynicism and hypocrisy, as method.

Manlio calls on President to ‘hitch up his pants’

PRI Senate leader Manlio Fabio Beltrones called on the President to take the decisions that the Executive had to take, including the location of the refinery, the repatriation of convicted French kidnapper Florence Cassez, and whether to allow partial U.S. ownership of Citigroup subsidiary Banamex. “The three decisions require that President Felipe Calderón hitch up his pants once and for all…. We don’t want more doubts, more indecision,” he said. (Reforma 3/19, Universal 3/20)