Tag: Institutional Revolutionary Party

On 1 July, the Mexican people will vote in possibly the most important presidential election in their country's recent history. If AMLO is elected president, what kind of policies will he implement? The biggest fear of the Mexican private sector is that AMLO will embark on a Venezuela-style nationalisation spree, but that is actually quite unlikely. AMLO's policies will not radically eliminate poverty and corruption The core of AMLO's political economy policies will likely involve the reinforcement of existing social programmes like "Piso Firme" and " Vivienda Digna", which distribute construction materials to low-income populations to ensure that they are able to access fair housing. AMLO and CNTE are strategic electoral allies, and it is highly unlikely that he will be able to radically reform the system. Although this measure is likely to succeed, it would only tackle high-level corruption and would leave the systemic corruption in the public administration largely unaddressed. If AMLO wins and his party takes 35 - 40 percent of the seats in both chambers, Morena and its coalition forces will face two major problems. If AMLO does not secure the support of a cohesive coalition, he will have little leverage to negotiate policies with other parties, potentially stalling the implementation of the proposed reforms and causing institutional deadlock. The other scenario is that AMLO wins the presidency with 50 percent or more of the votes. Although a better allocation of resources could lead to growth and improved macro-economic performance in the short and medium term, the problem of chronic underdevelopment will remain as long as the education system, justice system, public administration, and law enforcement do not undergo significant overhauls and improvements.

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — In a cafe in downtown Guadalajara, Pedro Kumamoto, 28, an independent politician running for a Senate seat, was savoring his early morning coffee when a middle-aged man approached. Two years ago, Mr. Kumamoto was elected as the first independent legislator in the state Congress of Jalisco, a feat possible only after a 2014 change to the federal Constitution allowed for candidates not affiliated with parties. “A growing number of citizens,” he added, are “trying to partake in this system through alternative channels.” For instance, 16 members of Wikipolítica, a leftist youth movement founded in 2013, have qualified to run as independent candidates for federal and state races. “To be born and grow up in a country ruled by the PRI meant you thought that there was one way of doing politics,” said Roberto Castillo, 27, a founding member of Wikipolítica, who is now running for a seat in Mexico City’s state-level Congress. “That is what I call the anticipated defeat, and we must realize that is simply not true.” Mr. Brito is a former member of a student movement that emerged in 2012 to protest media manipulation during the campaign of President Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office in December of that year. “And we should be happy about that.” But in a political system that favors established parties — Mexican law, for example, guarantees parties funding and media access during campaigns — the electoral performance of most of the independents in the coming election is expected to be marginal, experts say. While many of the independents may struggle to win their elections, Mr. Kumamoto has established himself as a rising force, at least in Jalisco. At his campaign headquarters in Guadalajara, a group of young people were organizing crowdfunding efforts, rallies and media campaigns. He garnered multiparty support to pass legislation in which political parties gave up much of their public funding. At a small rally in the center of Guadalajara, a banner read: “We will replace them.” Nine young candidates running for the Jalisco Congress had collected the signatures they needed to run and were celebrating.