Thursday, August 11, 2011

A defeat for Elba Esther Gordillo in Oaxaca: Piñeyro is out

After much pressure, governor Gabino Cué of Oaxaca fired his Government Secretary, essentially his second-in-command, Irma Piñeyro Arias. A former gubernatorial candidate for the PANAL party who dropped out in favor of Cué, she is an ally of the powerful SNTE head Elba Esther Gordillo. Her resignation is as such a defeat for Gordillo, and a victory in particular for the "dissident" wing of SNTE in Oaxaca, Section 22, which has long demanded her resignation. New Government secretary is Jesús Martínez Álvarez, who was notably governor briefly in the mid-1980s.

New surprise head of Mexico's Electoral Tribunal: Alejandro Luna Ramos

Alejandro Luna Ramos was elected, by oral vote by his fellow peers, as the new head of Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal, Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación (TEPJF), by 5 out of 7 magistrates (His sister, Margarita Beatriz Luna Ramos, is a Supreme Court judge).

Outgoing TEPJF president María del Carmen Alanís, failed to achieve her reelection. Not only that; in a quite shocker vote, her reelection was backed by only one vote: her own. She has been considered by many to be a tad too friendly to the PRI. Relations have been at times quite acrimonious between Alanís and the other TEPJF members. As far as 2012 goes, a broader consensus for the new head of Mexico's highest electoral court can only be a positive thing.