Shame on Alejandro Encinas: A well-respected man adopts AMLO's reasoning on democracy

I've met and interviewed Alejandro Encinas, and I know well his trajectory in the PRD. The man has a past in the Mexican Communist Party (PCM), but has long been very far from a radical, ideological or otherwise. It is therefore really sad to see how his blind defense of AMLO has led to his adopting some of the same twisted logic on the value of democratic representation and institutions. Regarding the recent vote in the state of Mexico, where the PRD state council, elected in 2008 by mass vote, was just one short of a 2/3 majority in favor of allying with the PAN for 2011, until AMLO's supporters blocked the vote, Encinas has the following to say: 

"The size of the PRD is not measured by the size of its bureaucracy;  the bureaucracy does not necessarily represent the social base of the PRD, so that's why one shouldn't go for the illusion of the numbers."

This dangerous, irresponsible thinking should really be beneath Encinas. It is sad to read. Not only is this a pathetic attempt to preempt what may be a successful 2/3 vote when the state council reconvenes by already dismissing the vote outcome before it has taken place; it shows a profound disregard for accepting the results of democratic votes when they don't go your way. What Encinas calls "illusion" is a vote made by the PRD state council, which is elected by party base. In the worst of Stalinist fashion, it merely substitutes "the party is always right" for a "the party base is always right," allowing for the absurd implication that there is somehow a disconnect between the "real" party of the mass bases and the state PRD leadership, when the former duly elected the latter. 


But there is more: How far does this reasoning go? To hell with congress, to hell with the presidency, to hell with courts, to hell with democracy, because these are really just an "illusion" as opposed to the "people"? It is a very dangerous path to embark upon, especially coming from a man who is the PRD's parliamentary leader in congress.