Friday, January 21, 2005

Will the PRI Be Re-elected in 2006?

When Vicente Fox of the PAN was elected president in 2000, many thought that the true democratization of Mexico would now begin. However, opposition in the Chamber of Deputies and Fox's failure to implement many campaign promises have put a damper on democratization.

At the midterm elections, PAN lost seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The PRI was once again the majority. The PRI has been very vocal in challenging many of Fox's proposals to change government.

Also, many of Fox's promises, such as a more open immigration policy with the United States, have failed to take off. Fox was quite dependant on President Bush for this initiative; however after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, that policy was quickly taken off the table.

Many Mexicans have become disillusioned with this new "democracy" and are predicted to vote for the PRI candidate in 2006. I believe that, although Fox failed to make many changes, these were in fact becuase of outside factors that could not have been helped. Does anyone else believe that the PRI will take over the presidency in 2006? Was Fox's victory just a blip on the virtual hold the PRI has in Mexico?

[NOTE: This post was submitted by Desiree Dominguez.]

1 comment:

Huck said...

These are some good questions. Personally, I think that the PRI's iron grip over Mexican politics is over. But, that said, I do think that the PRI has a lot of years in control of Mexico ahead of it.

The true test of whether or not democracy has really taken some permanent roots in Mexico will come after this next election, when and if, no matter who wins, Mexicans still accept and exhibit faith in the democratic process to determine its leadership.