Is the PRI Back from the Dead? Party Is Able to Dodge Mounting Corruption Scandals Jude Webber - FT.com
go to original November 3, 2017

Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto has been so battered by corruption scandals, surging violence and rising inflation that his popularity ratings have been pummelled (Pinterest)

Not so long ago, only the most reckless gambler would have put money on the PRI having a chance in next year’s elections. President Enrique Peña Nieto has been so battered by corruption scandals, surging violence and rising inflation that his popularity ratings have been pummeled, at one stage sinking to the worst on record for a Mexican president, ever.

But miraculously, the PRI suddenly appears back from the dead — even before it announces its candidate.

Despite another rare show of opposition unity against the PRI over the abrupt sacking of the country’s electoral crimes prosecutor, ruling legislators managed to head off a vote that could have reinstated him. Emilio Gamboa, the head of the PRI in the Senate who was recently excoriated by opponents after being seen climbing into an official helicopter, an aide loading golf clubs in the back, boasted that the opposition knew it was outnumbered.

That revealed a PRI ready to browbeat opponents and able to dodge mounting corruption scandals as if public disgust counted for nothing.

Radical leftist frontrunner Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is running on an anti-corruption ticket, has his wedge of core support but appears not to be growing in the polls. Former first lady Margarita Zavala faces an uphill struggle to collect the 866,593 signatures to validate her candidacy as an independent. And if the PRI candidate turns out to be José Antonio Meade, the current finance minister, as is widely expected, his background having served in Mr Calderón’s government means he could poach supporters from her.

Mr Peña Nieto cannot run in next year’s elections but PRI presidents have traditionally handpicked their candidates and he is expected to do the same this month. There, all eyes are on the imminent announcement of who will replace Agustín Carstens as central bank governor from December 1.

Mr Meade’s name has been thrown around for that job too; but if he does not go to Banxico, his chances of being the Chosen One among other official beauty contestants parading for the presidential nomination — including the interior, health, education and tourism ministers — will leap dramatically.

Later this month, Mr López Obrador will unveil his proposals and cabinet in a bid to set the tone for the campaign.

Read the rest at FT.com

Related: Independent Candidates Threaten to Break Grip of Mexico’s Parties in Next Election (America Press)

Related: Mexico's Presidential Candidates Include a Hillary Wannabe and a Guy Promising Better Soccer (Stars and Stripes)

Related: Mexico’s Presidential Front-Runner Misunderstands His Role Model (The Economist)

Related: Why Mexico’s Independent Candidates Have Failed so Miserably (PanAm Post)

Related: This Is the Latest Link Between Mexico's President and Latin America's Biggest Corruption Scandal (BuzzFeed)

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