PRD has decided to take the Supreme Court's decision to approve the "Ley Peña" to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, for violating the party's political rights.
Luis Sánchez Jiménez, PRD's leader in Mexico state, qualified the law as "repressive," and former Supreme Court minister Juventino Castro y Castro, now a PRD national deputy, qualified the ruling as an "impediment" to exercise free political rights. Jesús Zambrano, PRD deputy and vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, backed the decision to take it to the to the IACHR/CIDH, which appears in all essence as futile and rather symbolic move more than anything else.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
In defense of PRI - of sorts. The return of the PRI as a "tragedy"
In a friendly crowd of PAN supporters, Felipe Calderón celebrated 10 years of PAN rule in Mexico, dropping a few controversial lines: "...Mexico does not deserve to be stranded in the middle of the road to democratic change that we have undertaken, much less the tragedy of going back to the old, to the authoritarian, to the irresponsible."
It is an inherent problem of presidentialism that no separation between head of government and head of state exists - the president, despite being an obviously highly partisan choice, also is supposed to represent the country as a whole. Statements like that, though said in the context of a PAN celebration, which were clearly signaled at the PRI, is about as far away from such a mandate as possible. It sadly reminds one of the clumsy and idiotic intervention by Vicente Fox in 2005 and 2006 on behalf of PAN. Moreover, despite all the criticism - and lawdy lawd there is much to chose from - of PRI's authoritarian streaks, should Mexico's president be in the business of deeming a possible PRI return to Los Pinos as a "tragedy" in advance, whomever the candidate may be? While I, too, would personally would consider in particular a Peña Nieto win to be, to be sure, tragic for Mexico, I am not the president of Mexico, and as such have a bit more leeway to say so than Calderón.
Moreover, and more concretely, it may make the passing of any significant legislation the coming two years even more difficult: Chamber of Deputies President Jorge Carlos Ramírez Marín, for one, issues such a warning. One should not forget that like it or not, for the next two years, PRI will still have a majority in Congress.
It is an inherent problem of presidentialism that no separation between head of government and head of state exists - the president, despite being an obviously highly partisan choice, also is supposed to represent the country as a whole. Statements like that, though said in the context of a PAN celebration, which were clearly signaled at the PRI, is about as far away from such a mandate as possible. It sadly reminds one of the clumsy and idiotic intervention by Vicente Fox in 2005 and 2006 on behalf of PAN. Moreover, despite all the criticism - and lawdy lawd there is much to chose from - of PRI's authoritarian streaks, should Mexico's president be in the business of deeming a possible PRI return to Los Pinos as a "tragedy" in advance, whomever the candidate may be? While I, too, would personally would consider in particular a Peña Nieto win to be, to be sure, tragic for Mexico, I am not the president of Mexico, and as such have a bit more leeway to say so than Calderón.
Moreover, and more concretely, it may make the passing of any significant legislation the coming two years even more difficult: Chamber of Deputies President Jorge Carlos Ramírez Marín, for one, issues such a warning. One should not forget that like it or not, for the next two years, PRI will still have a majority in Congress.
Encinas reiterates: He will not be candidate, but backs Polevnsky
PRD's own santaclós lookalike, Alejandro Encinas, again made it clear he will not be a candidate for the left in Mexico State: For the umpteenth time, he has not been living there for quite some time, and as such does not fulfill the residency requirements. He does, however, use the occasion to note he has "40 percent support," though I doubt he'll try to push this one.
Sadly for the left, he does endorse the doomed, hapless candidacy of Yeidckol Polevnsky, though he clearly must know she doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of being elected in the state. Doubly sad, as he so obviously puts his loyalty a ultranza to AMLO ahead of a political project of the Left.
Sadly for the left, he does endorse the doomed, hapless candidacy of Yeidckol Polevnsky, though he clearly must know she doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of being elected in the state. Doubly sad, as he so obviously puts his loyalty a ultranza to AMLO ahead of a political project of the Left.
At last: Governor Gabino Cué of Oaxaca - how sweet it sounds
A big, big day for Oaxaca, and Mexico: The end of the despotic caciquismo of Ulises Ruiz came to an end with the assumption of Gabino Cué as governor of Oaxaca, 2010-2016.
Before the event, Ulises Ruiz had already informed that he would not attend the swearing-in of his successor, conveniently if pathetically using the excuse that he had to addend rather the ceremony of
Carlos Lozano de la Torre, new governor of Aguascalientes also sworn in today.
He might as well: In his speech, in the company of Interior Minister José Francisco Blake Mora, Cué declared,
Before the event, Ulises Ruiz had already informed that he would not attend the swearing-in of his successor, conveniently if pathetically using the excuse that he had to addend rather the ceremony of
Carlos Lozano de la Torre, new governor of Aguascalientes also sworn in today.
He might as well: In his speech, in the company of Interior Minister José Francisco Blake Mora, Cué declared,
"I will not allow impunity and there is no protection for those who by their actions betrayed the trust and the will of the people, and who tore apart the social fabric of the people of Oaxaca. But it will be only the law who can identify and punish the guilty, not personal or partisan political interests."The all-but-direct reference to Ruiz ups the ante; the now former governor has more than enough reason to fear that he might be thrown in jail for his 6-year misrule of Oaxaca. Taking Cué at his words hardly leaves other alternatives than prison for Ulises Ruiz.
Así de fácil: Manuel Espino officially kicked out of the PAN
While it appeared long a foregone conclusion, the Sonora branch of Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) informed that the expulsion of Manuel Espino is a done deal.
Expect him to make a lot of noise the coming months, possibly even as head of an alternative party based in his newly created movement, Volver a Empezar.
The former national PAN president may still appeal the ruling.
Expect him to make a lot of noise the coming months, possibly even as head of an alternative party based in his newly created movement, Volver a Empezar.
The former national PAN president may still appeal the ruling.
Love and arrogance: Salvador García Soto's take on Amalia García and her daugher:
A withering critique of Amalia García and her senator daughter Claudia Corichi in Salvador García Soto's column today: They were felled by "love and arrogance":
"But what was the sin of a politician known for her career as a fighter on the left? There were two: Love and arrogance. Overprotection of her daughter, who was made senator with little political experience, and acquiescing to her many excesses, impudences, and interferences in her administration led to many of the problems it faces.
And arrogant pride, because even in defeat, after a mistake of choosing a bad candidate for the PRD that was disregarded by the likes of Marcelo Ebrard and Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who advised her to reconsider and to support an alliance PRD-PT-Convergencia when faces with the risk of losing, Amalia never had the humility to accept that she lost and that behind her defeat was not only a young politician and current governor Miguel Alonso Reyes, but her nemesis, whom she confronted but whose upper strength knocked her down, former Governor Ricardo Monreal Avila."Ouch.
Greatest joke of the day: Noroña, "dickheads," and Belaunzarán
It's hard to think of more polar opposites of people still nominally coinciding on the political left: Fernando Belaunzarán, one of PRD's most important intellectuals, and Gerardo Fernández Noroña, the rabble-rousing former PRD spokesperson-cum-national deputy for the PT. Here's a little incident that recently happened, according to Belaunzarán's blog:
"As we were both to attend the Political Science Congress at the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, I invited the deputy Gerardo Fernandez Norona to, instead of having two separate presentations, for the benefits of the student we would have a debate to contrast our positions. He could have refused and nothing more, but chose to insult: "I don't debate with pendejos," to which I replied, "but I do, and invite you to the debate."Noroña's response? Hurling a glass of red wine at Belaunzarán (he missed).
IFE under fire: TEPJF orders IFE to reopen investigation of church
Last week, TEPJF, Mexico's highest electoral court, ordered the Fedral Electoral Institute (IFE), which arranges federal elections in Mexcio, to reopen the complaint that the PRD had launched against the church, which in the past months have drastically stepped up its political proselytizing, such as calling on voters not to vote for the PRD, a party it shamefully refer to as "fascist." To anyone with a casual knowledge of the Mexican Constitution, these were obvious and blatant breaches of constitutional as well as electoral law - and not to mention, which is a separate issue, the open hate speech from the church against gays and accusing the Supreme Court of being corrupt.
Yet IFE, to recall, timidly refused to take any stand on the issue or reprimand the church in any way. It washed its hands off the case by passing on the complaint to the Interior Ministry, which IFE knows fully well would mean that the case would be permanently shelved. Now, however, the electoral tribunal, the TEPJF, ruled that IFE engaged in an "insufficient investigation" of the matter, and ordered it to reopen the process.
This is excellent news. As Rafael Hernández, PRD's party representative notes, hopefully this will lead to the spelling out of clearer rules regarding what the church is allowed and not allowed to do: It is well overdue.
Yet IFE, to recall, timidly refused to take any stand on the issue or reprimand the church in any way. It washed its hands off the case by passing on the complaint to the Interior Ministry, which IFE knows fully well would mean that the case would be permanently shelved. Now, however, the electoral tribunal, the TEPJF, ruled that IFE engaged in an "insufficient investigation" of the matter, and ordered it to reopen the process.
This is excellent news. As Rafael Hernández, PRD's party representative notes, hopefully this will lead to the spelling out of clearer rules regarding what the church is allowed and not allowed to do: It is well overdue.
Amalia's story
A straightalker she is not: Far from it. Amalia Garcìa sat down in a full-lenght interview with El Universal to give her side of the story, yet it is pretty disappointing given how circumspect she is on many topics.
Her main line: What Governor Miguel Alonso is doing is regressing to the "dark eras" of the PRI, persecuting her politically. Among the specific points:
- The millions of pesos spent on popular artists was an investment, to drive tourism to the state and generate employment.
- The current governor, in any regard, was her secretary of tourism, and approved of it
- The comptroller and the government is using the media to judge her, without summoning anyone for questioning
- Debt contracted and left was only 600 million pesos, not 2 billion pesos
- The current governor is a monrealista, and as such it is also an attack by Ricardo Monreal.
Then, and rather astoundingly, Amalia García hints that she is being targeted in order to prevent her from running for mayor of Mexico City - as it were, also a goal expressed by her arch-enemy Monreal. That Amalia, given the recent battering, but also from the fact that she can´t even legally run - she is not a resident of the Federal District, having left Zacatecas merely weeks ago - already talks of a Mexico City run in the midst of what may or may not be a major corruption scandal, to me appears more than a bit presumptuous.
She does, in any event, certainly have a point when it comes to Ricardo Monreal, whose ghost hovers over the new Zacatecas government. As Bajo Reserva notes:
- The new comptroller, Guillermo Huizar, was head of the state branch of the Partido del Trabajo, which Monreal and his brothers joined after ditching the PRD
- The new attorney general Arturo Nahle was Monreal's Government Secretary
- His chief administrative officer Le Roy Barraga is Monreal's suplente in the Senate
Even Arturo Ramírez Bucio a federal deputy for PAN from Zacatecas, told the new PRI governor to "cut the umbilical cord," which may be taken almost literally: Governor Alonso was at one point even Monreal's personal secretary.
Her main line: What Governor Miguel Alonso is doing is regressing to the "dark eras" of the PRI, persecuting her politically. Among the specific points:
- The millions of pesos spent on popular artists was an investment, to drive tourism to the state and generate employment.
- The current governor, in any regard, was her secretary of tourism, and approved of it
- The comptroller and the government is using the media to judge her, without summoning anyone for questioning
- Debt contracted and left was only 600 million pesos, not 2 billion pesos
- The current governor is a monrealista, and as such it is also an attack by Ricardo Monreal.
Then, and rather astoundingly, Amalia García hints that she is being targeted in order to prevent her from running for mayor of Mexico City - as it were, also a goal expressed by her arch-enemy Monreal. That Amalia, given the recent battering, but also from the fact that she can´t even legally run - she is not a resident of the Federal District, having left Zacatecas merely weeks ago - already talks of a Mexico City run in the midst of what may or may not be a major corruption scandal, to me appears more than a bit presumptuous.
She does, in any event, certainly have a point when it comes to Ricardo Monreal, whose ghost hovers over the new Zacatecas government. As Bajo Reserva notes:
- The new comptroller, Guillermo Huizar, was head of the state branch of the Partido del Trabajo, which Monreal and his brothers joined after ditching the PRD
- The new attorney general Arturo Nahle was Monreal's Government Secretary
- His chief administrative officer Le Roy Barraga is Monreal's suplente in the Senate
Even Arturo Ramírez Bucio a federal deputy for PAN from Zacatecas, told the new PRI governor to "cut the umbilical cord," which may be taken almost literally: Governor Alonso was at one point even Monreal's personal secretary.
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