The Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional or Morena, the personal, customized, made-to-fit party of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and stuffed with his relatives, hardcore supporters, and a good bunch of opportunists, will be officially launched in a national assembly on Nov. 19-20.
This will be a parody of a party: It is a tool created solely for one purpose, which is for AMLO to run for a third time for the Mexican presidency. It has been created in an absolute hurry - in just a few weeks, scores of state and district "assemblies" have been held where local leaderships have been largely hand-picked by AMLO and his family.
Like the Green Party, the PT, the Convergencia/Mocimiento Ciudadano, PANAL, and other small franchise-parties, Morena is just an extended family enterprise, in this case of AMLO. It exists only for him and his interests - not, for example, to promote a legislative agenda, engage in reform of Mexico's laws, train future legislators, etc. No, this parody of a party has been cobbled, hurled together in an absolute hurry, and is held together only as long as AMLO has absolute control of it. Already many of its "assemblies" have degenerated into shouting matches and fights between different groups that claim to be the real and most loyal of AMLO's supporters.
A party that is held together only by loyalty to one man is very brittle, and is far more likely to descend into internal chaos than one held together by a lasting, common programmatic and ideological agenda. So far there is no indication that the new Morena, in its coming national assembly, will be anything but "AMLO's party," and it will rise, and fall, with him.
Source:
AMLO convoca a asamblea nacional. El Universal, Nov. 9, 2012
