The decision by Felipe Calderón to convoke a "Security Dialogue" with the leaders of Mexico's party demonstrates at the very least a modicum of willingness to take their perspectives into account. All parties - PRI, PAN, Convergencia, PVEM, and PANAL - attended, with the exception of the ultra-pejista Partido del Trabajo, PT - which also shows a certain level of maturity on their part. One cannot blame the president for refusing to listen and then reject an invitation to offer one's criticism in public. (That is, unless on is PT, which called for a national dialogue following the assassination of PRI's gubernatorial candidate in Taumalipas in June, yet now left the chair assigned to the party empty, recalling AMLO's empty chair in the first TV debate of 2006).
PRI and PRD were the most critical, and PRD offered harsh yet legitimate criticism of the government's handling of the "war on drugs."
PRD party leader Ortega duly criticized the politicization of the Attorney General's office - that is, using its prosecuting power as a political instrument, and repeats its very reasonable demand that this institution, responsible for investigating and prosecuting federal crimes, should rather be autonomous.
Ortega also gets the quote of the day:
"Eliot Ness didn't defeat the liquor mafias in the United States; the legalization of alcohol did."
The national PRD is also now on the record, to my knowledge for the first time, as supporting legalization of drugs. While many of its cadres have expressed this view, I can't recall having heard this expressed in the name of the PRD proper.
Update: As was to be expected, Dolores Padierna again called for Ortega's resignation for the umpteenth time (I've completely lost track of the number), this time for meeting with Calderón.
She represents the worst sectarian and stalinist elements of the PRD.
No comments:
Post a Comment