Ebrard's counterattack against competitor party far from "authoritarian"

I've earlier noted that the left may lose Mexico City, much thanks to the efforts of ex-PRD members such as René Arce and his brother Víctor Hugo Círigo, backed by prominent PRI and PAN politicians, who seek to create a new, "socially progressive" and "center-left" party in Mexico City, termed the Partido de la Ciudad.

The Arce-Círigo due were earlier allied to the Nueva Izquierda faction of the PRD, having their power base in Iztapalapa, yet broke with the party when the PRD lost the 2009 borough election there.

Ever since, they have sought to create a new party, which would obviously sap votes from the PRD and Marcelo Ebrard. Everyone is of course free to try to create a new party, yet the argument that Mexico City really needs a new leftleaning socially progressive party is hard to sustain; the PRD in Mexico State, despite some socially conservative and illiberal sectors close to AMLO, has been highly socially progressive, pushing and succesfully passing laws that allow for abortion; gay marriage; gay adoptions; and much more initiatives.

Especilly since the Arce/Círigo brothers are fully backed by PAN and PRI in their attempt to establish the "City Party," it seems pretty clear their motivations are particularly opportunistic and that they only seek to carve out a niche for themselves, rather than representing a "new" political force, while the PAN and PRI obviously cherish any initiative that will potentially drain strength from the PRD, which has Mexico City as its main power base.

(It is noteworthy that the Partido Socialdemócrata, which was allied with the PRD but clearly a competitor, and which was also represented in the ALDF, expired due to the lack of voter support. Former PSD members have now flocked to the new Partido de la Ciudad).

Then, on Dec. 14, came the counterattack from the left, the PRD, and Ebrard: The Comisión de Asuntos Político-Electorales in the Mexico City legislature (ALDF) passed a change to the city's Código Electoral (wow called Código de Instituciones y Procedimientos Electorales )  that simply put stipulates that new parties will need to have the support of 2 percent of registered voters in 14 of Mexico City's 16 boroughs - at least 147.000 members, while it will need two percent of the vote to remain a legal party.

The law was published in the Gaceta Oficial four days later, making it official.

Now, the electoral code was also amended to include gender quotas (40% for women) and more party financing, yet the 2% clause was clearly a counterattack by Ebrard to prevent the formation of a new party, and quickly drew fire from the protagonists of the "City Party," who accuse him of authoritarianism, and for having implemented his own Ley Ebrard, a reference to the now-infamous Ley Peña of Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico State.

My take on this: The comparison is utterly false and misleading. A 2-percent limit, as Ebrard points out, is in line with federal regulations for a national party, and is far from authoritarian or even particularly strenuous. Indeed, it is in nobody´s interest, above all in terms of governability, to fragment political party representation by having too low barriers to entry for new parties. Indeed, virtually every successful democracy has some kind of electoral threshold. The change in law was passed by unanimity in commission, and then by the Mexico City legislature a couple of days later.

Yet its opponents immediately cried foul, later announcing it would be impugned legally.
I really do not think they can get far with this, and I hardly would regard it a strike for democracy if they should. The bitterness is palpable; René Arce, who is still a senator, astonishingly accused Ebrard of being in cahoots with Calderón in terms of launching a "citizen candidacy" for Ebrard that PAN would back in 2012.

Despite Arce´s bitterness, this is just silly: Ebrard has already declared himself a candidate for the PRD party nomination, and as such can not be a "citizen candidate." Moreover, the PRD has on countless occasions declared IT WILL NOT RUN WITH PAN IN 2012, as has Ebrard himself.

Arce did manage something with his bitter outbursts: The most antagonistic wings in the PRD, the social democrats of the Nueva Izquierda and the andresmanuelistas movement-advocates of the IDN came together, in an utterly rare display of unity, to condemn Arce´s accusations.

 Now that´s quite a feat.