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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2008 
Opposition Party May Tone Down Radical Voice
 David Luhnow - Wall Street Journal
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 |  | Our challenge is to leave behind the revolutionary nationalism and define ourselves as a democratic left.
- Alejandro Encinas |  | | | |
Mexico's biggest left-wing party faces a leadership contest this Sunday that has turned into a referendum on whether the party will cling to its confrontational and radical past or whether it will modernize and help Mexico to break out of its drift.
The two main candidates to lead the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, are Jesús Ortega, who heads a bloc that calls itself the New Left, and Alejandro Encinas, a former Mexico City mayor and ally of former PRD presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The result could help determine if Mexico can start to enjoy a less contentious democracy and help boost economic growth. Ever since the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party lost its grip on power in 2000, the country has endured legislative and ideological gridlock as three main parties fought for power and largely refused to cooperate with each other. As a result, the country has drifted further behind the dynamic economies of Asia and, increasingly, Latin America's other giant, Brazil.
The shadow of Mr. López Obrador hangs over Sunday's vote. In 2006, he narrowly lost the presidential race and refused to accept the results. He calls himself the "legitimate" president of Mexico and has urged the party to not recognize or collaborate with President Felipe Calderón of the conservative National Action Party.
Mr. Encinas, a former member of the defunct Mexican Communist Party, vows to stick with Mr. López Obrador and take a hard line against Mr. Calderón's government. If he wins, Mr. Encinas will likely throw the entire party machinery behind Mr. López Obrador for another run at the presidency in 2012.
Mr. Ortega, meanwhile, says the party must grow up. "Our challenge is to leave behind the revolutionary nationalism and define ourselves as a democratic left," he says. A victory by Mr. Ortega could help Mr. Calderón get more initiatives through Congress. It would also hurt Mr. López Obrador's attempt to win the nomination in 2012 and help others in the party, including Lázaro Cárdenas Batel, the grandson of former Mexican president Lázaro Cárdenas and son of the party's founder, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas.
In many ways, the contest has highlighted the worst of the PRD, which was formed in the late 1980s by a collection of small, leftist parties as well as key members of the then-ruling PRI party who were passed over for top jobs. Ever since, the party has struggled with infighting among various groups bucking for power, lacks a coherent ideology, and often resorts to violence to settle its differences. Mr. Ortega says he has received death threats during the race. Party officials said they were expecting some violence on Sunday, and each side has already accused the other of preparing dirty tricks, like ballot-box stuffing.
"This [contest] has only confirmed that the PRD is an electoral franchise that does not defend ideas but simply seeks power," Ricardo Alemán, a political analyst, wrote in El Universal newspaper Friday. Mr. Alemán said the PRD was largely composed of former PRI members who represented the worst of that party's legacy. The PRI ruled Mexico for seven decades until it was ousted in 2000.
Write to David Luhnow at david.luhnow(at)wsj.com |
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