Teaching Comparative

Those dinosaurs aren't extinct just yet.

John Jenkins points us to an article in the Christian Science Monitor about politics in Mexico with the advisory that "Those dinosaurs aren't extinct just yet." Considering the close presidential race between Obrador and Calderon, it might be easy to forget about the basic strength of PRI. Danna Harman's article is a good reminder. Thanks John.

Mexico's once-mighty party struggles

"MEXICO CITY – For most of the 20th century, power and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) were one and the same in Mexico. All the mayors were PRI. All the congressmen. All the senators, governors, presidents...

"Now, the PRI is heading into the July 2 national elections with its presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo trailing in third place and its defectors numerous enough to fill Mexico City's Azteca Stadium twice over...

"Gabriel Guerra Castellanos, a respected political analyst for the daily Reforma newspaper [says] 'Despite all its shortcomings ... the PRI remains, arguably, the country's only real national party. And its resilience to the changing political landscape is actually remarkable...'

"At present, the PRI still has the largest bloc of deputies in Congress - 204 out of 500 - and holds 58 of 128 Senate seats. Seventeen of the country's 31 governors are PRI, including in the important state of Mexico, and 70 percent of the country's municipalities are headed by 'PRI-istas.'

"A poll released Wednesday by the Consulta Mitofsky polling firm, shows that while the PRI was expected to lose party seats, it would remain a powerful player...

"The future of the party, says [Genaro] Borrego [a 30-year PRI veteran and former party president, who endorsed Calderón last week and quit the party], will depend on how well it can reinvent itself. 'The day after elections, there will be a battle between the various factions: the pragmatists who want to restructure, the idealists who want a whole new party, and the nostalgics who want the old party,' he predicts.

"'What is needed is a fresh reformer to jump on the locomotive and steer it away from the old way of doing politics,' adds Guerra. 'But there will be a struggle before this can happen.'"

posted by Ken Wedding @ 9:21 PM