Tag Archives: PRI

Huatulco

Coalitions and Democracy: Navigating Mexico’s Unique Political Landscape

Leave a comment

By Randy Jackson

Both Mexico and the United States will hold their federal elections in 2024. Although the Republic of Mexico has a federal government structure similar to that of the United States, with both countries featuring a president and bicameral legislatures, the nature of the democratic process between these two nations is strikingly different. In the United States, despite the availability of other party choices, voters, in all practicality, must choose between two political parties. In contrast, Mexico’s democracy is more dynamic, with a wide variety of viable political parties. This diversity has led to the emergence of coalitions as a fundamental aspect of the country’s political landscape. In this ever-evolving political landscape, coalitions have become pivotal in determining the course of governance in Mexico.

As we approach the Mexico General Election (scheduled for June 2, 2024), it may be helpful to provide an overview of how coalitions operate within Mexico’s federal governance.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE

The federal level of Mexico’s government consists of three branches: the Executive (President), the Chamber of Deputies, and the Senate. All three branches play crucial roles in passing legislation. Each branch operates under different electoral rules. The President is elected through a plurality vote (the highest number of votes). In contrast, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have members elected through both plurality and proportional representation, with each employing distinct proportional representation methodologies.

THE IMPORTANCE OF COALITIONS

With the elections of 2000, seventy years of continuous single-party rule by Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional – PRI) came to an end with the election of President Vicente Fox. Since then, the governance of Mexico has relied on coalitions. Under the current administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), seven parties hold seats in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. These seven parties are organized into two coalitions: the governing coalition and the opposition coalition.

Prior to each election cycle, new coalition agreements are established through formal agreements among the parties. In the last federal election (2018), a left-of-center coalition, calling themselves Juntos Haremos Historia (together we will make history), was formed. It consisted of MORENA (Movimiento Regeneración Nacional, or National Regeneration Movement – MRN), the Labour Party (Partido del Trabajo – PT), and the Social Encounter Party (Partido Encuentro Social – PES). This coalition emerged victorious in the election, with AMLO securing the Office of the President. The PES dissolved in 2018. In 2020, just before the midterm elections, the entire coalition dissolved, and a new coalition – Juntos Hacemos Historia (together we make [present tense] history) – added the Green Party (Partido Verde Ecologista de México, or PVEM) to its roster. This coalition has once again chosen MORENA to lead, with Claudia Sheinbaum as their presidential candidate for 2024. Neither the PT nor the PVM will field a candidate in the presidential election, thus consolidating the votes for MORENA.

On the opposition side, a center-right coalition named FAM (Frente Amplio por México, or Broad Front for Mexico) is led by the PAN (Partido Acción Nacional, or National Action Party). It also includes the PRI, MC (Movimiento Ciudadano, or Citizens’ Movement), and PRD (Partido de la Revolución Democrática, or Party of the Democratic Revolution). This coalition enters the 2024 election with the PAN’s leader, Xóchitl Gálvez, as their presidential candidate. Similarly, the other parties in the coalition will not nominate a candidate for President to maximize support for PAN.

It’s important to note that the Presidency can be won by a candidate from one of these two coalitions or even another party. Furthermore, the composition of the Congress of the Union (comprising the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate) can result in various scenarios. This may lead to the formation of new coalitions for effective governance or possibly a period of political disarray, akin to the current situation in the United States.

THE STRUCTURE OF MEXICO’S GOVERNMENT

Understanding the significance of coalitions in Mexican governance requires a basic understanding of the division of powers between government branches and the election methods for different branches.

The Office of the President
The President of Mexico serves as the head of the executive branch, with responsibilities including being the Head of Government, Head of State, Commander of the Armed Forces, and head of the Federal Public Administration. The Presidential term lasts for six years, and Presidents are ineligible to run for subsequent elections. The President plays a pivotal role in approving or vetoing legislation. To advance a legislative agenda, the President must collaborate with the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Additionally, the President is responsible for making key appointments, such as those to the Supreme Court, diplomatic posts, and various federal agencies. These appointments require confirmation by the Senate.

Presidential elections in Mexico are based on a plurality system, meaning the candidate with the most votes wins. For instance, in 2018, AMLO secured 54% of the popular vote (there were four final candidates). In 2012, Enrique Pena Nieto won the Presidency with 38% of the vote (three final candidates), and in 2006, Filipe Calderon emerged victorious with 36% of the vote (three final candidates). Coalitions play a vital role in Presidential elections, as parties within a coalition with somewhat similar political leanings abstain from running their own candidates to prevent vote splitting.

The Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies comprises 500 members, with elections held every three years. Its powers encompass passing laws, levying taxes, declaring war, initiating impeachment proceedings, and ratifying foreign treaties. Seven parties currently hold seats in the Chamber of Deputies, grouped into two coalitions: the Governing Coalition and the Opposition Coalition.

Of the 500 deputies, 300 are elected through plurality voting in each of the 300 constituencies throughout the country. The remaining 200 deputies are allocated through proportional representation. These seats are distributed based on the popular vote in five distinct regions of Mexico, each with an allocation of 40 seats. Calculations are made to assign the percentage of seats each party receives in each of the five regions.

The Senate
The Senate comprises 128 members, with four seats designated for each of the 31 states and Mexico City. Senators serve six-year terms and possess the authority to pass laws and confirm appointments to the Supreme Court, diplomatic positions, and other presidential appointments.

Out of the 128 senators, half (64) are elected directly via plurality voting in each state, along with Mexico City. An additional 64 senators are allocated through two distinct proportional representation systems. Among the directly elected Senators, the two candidates with the highest vote counts in each state and Mexico City secure a seat.

Subsequently, one additional seat is assigned for each state and Mexico City through the “First Minority System.” In this process, one Senate seat is granted for each state based on the highest percentage of national senate results overall. However, if the overall national results for the first-place party match the parties of the directly elected senators for that state and Mexico City, the seat is assigned to the next most popular party in that region.

Finally, in the “Second Minority System,” one Senate seat is allocated for each state and Mexico City based on the second highest national senate results overall. Once again, if the second most popular party nationally aligns with the party of the two directly elected senators from that state and Mexico City, the seat is awarded to the next most popular party in that region.

In conclusion, the very structure of the electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, with its proportional representation, promotes a diversity of political parties, thereby necessitating the formation of coalitions. As we approach the 2024 Mexican general election, it will be interesting to watch how the results will determine the reshaping of coalitions in the governance of Mexico.

Email: box95jackson@gmail.com

Huatulco

Who Was That Woman in the Dinosaur Suit?

Leave a comment

By Deborah Van Hoewyk

In December 2022, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) tried to get a constitutional amendment through the Mexican Congress. The amendment would have overhauled the country’s electoral process in such a way that, among many other things, AMLO could have stayed in office after his term ended. (Mexico’s presidents serve a single six-year term.) While AMLO’s constitutional amendment failed, his party, MORENA, continued the effort to reform elections through legislation. (See Randy Jackson’s article elsewhere in this issue on Mexican political parties and coalitions.)

Enter the Opposition

During discussions of the proposed legislation, a lime-green, eight-foot dinosaur took the speaker’s podium in the senate chamber: “Today we introduce the ‘Jurassic Plan,’ … a plan that would bring back ‘the dinosaurs’ of the PRI.” The Institutional Revolutionary Party held unilateral power in Mexico from 1929 to 2000 – at least occasionally through elections deemed fraudulent. The green monster implied that supporters of changing Mexico’s electoral process were out of date, out of touch, and just possibly corrupt.

Inside the dinosaur suit? Senator Bertha Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz, now 60, who was elected to the Senate in 2018 through proportional representation for the PAN party (National Action Party), and re-elected for the PRD party (Party of the Democratic Revolution). (Three-quarters of Mexico’s senators represent a particular place, one-quarter of the senators proportionally represent the political parties).

There are TWO women running for president in Mexico, and Senator Gálvez is the “other woman” – an article on the better-known candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, appears elsewhere in this issue. Gálvez is the candidate of the opposition coalition Frente Amplio por México (Broad Front for Mexico), which comprises the PAN, the PRD, AND THE PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party). Sheinbaum is AMLO’s protégé, and is the candidate of the ruling coalition, Juntos Hacemos Historia (Together We Make History), made up of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), the Labor Party (PT), and the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM).

Who Is Xóchitl Gálvez?

Born in Tepatepec, Hidalgo, Gálvez is mostly Otomi – her father was Otomi, and her mother was part Otomi (the Otomi were the earliest indigenous people to appear in the Mexican highlands, around 8000 BCE). Reportedly, she grew up poor, selling tamales in the street or Gelatina de Tres Leches, a “Mexican Jello” dessert, in the market – depending on who’s telling the story. More to the point, her education and work history focus on digital technology.

Gálvez studied computer engineering at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and worked as a computer help tech at a call center before returning to UNAM as a research assistant. She finally earned her degree in Computer Engineering in 2010, at the age of 47. In the meantime, she was a programmer and then a systems analyst at INEGI (Mexico’s census bureau); she also served as director of telecommunications at Mexico’s World Trade Center.

In 1992, she set up High Tech Services, a company that developed projects that deployed digital technology to design intelligent buildings, increase energy savings, automate processes, and support security and telecommunications installations. In 1998, she founded Operation and Maintenance for Intelligent Buildings (OMEI). She was named one of the 100 Global Leaders of the World’s Future at Davos in 1999; in 2000, one of the 25 Latin America’s Business Elite by Business Week.

Interviewed by Bloomberg.com news service in 1998, Gálvez said that, amid rapid growth of young entrepreneurial companies, including her own, inequality became an issue for her. “I realized we were creating two Mexicos – one for people with dollars, and one in which people had nothing. The have-nots weren’t going to progress at all if they didn’t have proper nutrition.”

She set up the Foundation for the Future (Fundación Porvenir), which distributes food supplements to indigenous children suffering from malnutrition and works on supporting women in indigenous communities. Gálvez believes that the private sector should work to lessen the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

In her late thirties, Gálvez became interested in politics as another way to strengthen Mexican society. Under President Vicente Fox – the 2000 candidate who overturned the PRI’s unbroken hold on the presidency – she headed up the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI). In 2010, she was the runner-up for governor of Hidalgo; in 2015, she was the PAN candidate for mayor of Hidalgo, and won. She had served for nearly three years when she ran for the Senate.

Can She Win the Presidency?

Probably not. Apparently, though, the dinosaur stunt stuck in AMLO’s craw. He has definitely increased her name recognition. Mexican presidents are not allowed to comment on candidates for office, particularly when they are running to succeed that president.

In late Spring of 2023, when it became apparent that Gálvez was the likely presidential candidate of the Broad Front coalition, AMLO began castigating her in his daily mañaneras (two-hour press conferences – what national president has time to gab with the press for two hours a day?). According to CNN online (July 23, 2023), he’s called her a “wimp,” a “puppet,” and “employee of the oligarchy.” He has said she didn’t grow up poor; he has released private financial information on her businesses and said their contracts are corrupt. (Gálvez has pointed out that some of those contracts are with the Mexican government.)

The National Election Institute (INE) has ordered AMLO to stop attacking Gálvez; the order has not taken effect, and you should note that the INE is also under attack by AMLO. El Financiero, Mexico’s Wall Street Journal, has said “AMLO is obsessed with Senator Gálvez,” and other commentators have joked that AMLO is the Senator’s campaign manager.

There is no doubt that AMLO’s ill-founded attacks have raised her profile to within striking distance of Sheinbaum. It’s not clear whether that’s enough, but it has definitely put her on the national stage for some time to come. Remember, it took AMLO himself three tries to get elected.