The internal elections in the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) for its new party president for the next three years, a highly significant political event on its own, was given added importance because it was the first elections in five years that actually saw what appears to have been a real competition, unlike the previous dedazos of former party presidents Germán Martínez and César Nava. Yet the two front runners, Gustavo Madero and Roberto Gil, were both considered Calderón's candidates, and in essence, the new CEN (Comité Ejecutivo Nacional) will clearly be loyally calderonista.
Things seemed on the surface calm Saturday, with one exception: Former party president Manuel Espino, recently expelled from the party, tried to elbow himself in to the PAN compound in Mexico City with hundreds of his followers, yet was told that he would be not allowed to vote, despite the regulation that all former party presidents will have a lifetime seat on the PAN council, which elects the party president.
As the voting rounds progressed, when it became clear that Gustavo Madero was picking up the most votes, Roberto Gil announced he would also decline in the name of party unity, making Madero the winner. The immediate question was, of course: What would Gil get in return for his declination?
Now we know: Gil was apparently promised a significant chunk of the PAN's 40-strong executive committee, as the new president has the right to appoint 2/3 of these. Now Gil claims that Madero failed to keep such a bargain. Madero responded that this is "false," and also refused to affirm that any such agreement actually existed.
The new CEN will have quite a few notable members, such as:
* Luisa María Calderón Hinojosa - yep, the president's sister, who wants to be Michoacán governor
* Cecilia Romero, who was also a candidate for the presidency and represents El Yunque
* Jorge Ocejo, head of the "Rightwing International," Organización Demócrata Cristiana de América
* Maximiliano Córtazar, former presidential spokesperson
* Mariana Gómez del Campo, head of the PAN's legislative group in the Mexico City assembly
* Federal Secretary of Public Administration Salvador Vega Casillas
* Federal Secretary of Communications Juan Molina Horcasitas
* Governor of Morelos, Marco Antonio Adame,
* Governor of Guanajuato, Juan Manuel Oliva.
In other words, one should make no mistake: This is a calderonista executive committee, through and through, and Madero - a man with the charisma of a grey rock - will very likely be a highly loyal servant of the Mexican President.
Madero proposed 27 out of the 40 members, with the national council the rest, and this appears a rough measure of strength:
- Maderistas, 20
- Cecilia Romero and the yunquistas, 8
- Gil, only 6
It has not yet been decided who will head the powerful position of secretary general, but likely it will be Cecilia Romero, also a close friend of and ultra-loyal to Calderón. Should this happen, Gil, who thought one of his people deserved this secretariat, will not be happy, and more trouble may be expected.
More details here: La Jornada, El Universal, Milenio
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