The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) is on the verge of disappearance, failing to reach the threshold of 3% of federal votes to maintain its registration. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) turns a deaf ear to self-criticism and clings to the last thing it has left in the midst of an incessant bleeding of relevant cadres and figures. The National Action Party (PAN) is facing itself, facing a questioned leadership that refuses to assume responsibility and blames the defeat on its presidential candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez. In less than 10 days, the script of the opposition front has taken a radical turn: from triumphalist messages to the exchange of reproaches, from closing ranks to signs of internal rebellion, from relying on the past to uncertainty about the future. Despite the avalanche of criticism from their own militants and the verdict of the polls, the PAN member Marko Cortés, the PRI member Alejandro Alito Moreno and PRD member Jesús Zambrano have made it clear that they will not give in and will not put their resignation on the table. Cortés and Moreno insist that their mandates end until October, while Zambrano trusts in the challenges as a lifeline in extremis.
The PAN, as the majority partner of the coalition and the most voted opposition force, has been the party with the greatest shocks after the elections of June 2. Max Cortázar, the operational head of the Gálvez campaign, held nothing back this Monday and exposed to public opinion the constant clashes between Cortés and the candidate, the lack of financial support during the race and the differences during critical moments, such as the first presidential debate and election night itself. “Consistently, let him resign,” Cortázar declared to journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva.
Former President Felipe Calderón echoed the interview with someone who was one of his main strategists in the 2006 election, as was his wife, the elected representative Margarita Zavala. In parallel, a group of 13 former governors with historical weight among the militancy, made an “urgent call” by putting in black and white that the message from citizens to PANism had been forceful: “you change or you leave.” Damián Zepeda, former national leader, returned to the criticism that he had made against Cortés last week. “My recommendation is that after such a painful defeat, I should bring humility and reduce arrogance,” said the senator, who did not rule out taking the reins again. The questions have come from all fronts: from former presidential candidates such as Diego Fernández de Cevallos, from former members of the Cabinet such as Javier Lozano, from former senators such as Adriana Dávila, from former mayors such as Arne aus den Ruthen or even from his own rivals in the ruling party.
Far from giving room to criticism, Cortés hit back at Cortázar. He reproached Gálvez for having absorbed two-thirds of the party’s resources for the election, insinuated that she was “unworthy” in granting the victory to Sheinbaum, and tried to turn around the call of the former governors, by assuring that what they meant was that they did not there would be a “hasty” succession in the leadership.
The leader was also clear in his position. Rather than step aside, he prefers to disown his candidate. Rather than accelerate internal renewal, he entrenches himself in the narrative of the “state election.” Rather than looking ahead, the party leader takes pride in a municipal presidency won or those who will be his colleagues in the Senate. There are 22 elected senators, one less than in 2018, and they all fit on the screen of a Zoom video call.
Although the ruling party is close to a qualified majority in the upper house, the opposition is a territory where everything remains the same. “Our voters have placed their trust in us to take care of our country, and we must fulfill that mandate with determination and unity,” Cortés said in a statement after the virtual meeting with the senators. Aside from sporadic statements about the “bad results” and some “errors”, there has been no official position from the PAN leadership since the day of the election regarding the criticism it has received. After the latest controversy, Gálvez has reappeared before the media. “I am not retiring from politics, I will remain active,” he told the newspaper. Reform.
Alito’s PRI has replicated the strategy of Cortés, his ally. The tricolor leader has focused his messages on “unity,” standing up after defeat and fighting against the overrepresentation of the ruling bloc in Congress or in challenges. The fight on these fronts resonates among certain sympathizers who are convinced that they lost because there was a “cheat”, but it is indecipherable and irrelevant for large sectors of the citizenry, those who plan to recover and open the doors of the parties, who do not understand what seeks opposition in the courts, especially after losing by such a wide margin. The same thing happened with Gálvez’s attacks on Sheinbaum in the debates: they were celebrated by those who had already been convinced, but they were of no use to the rest.
Every battle involves a certain dose of epic. “Regardless of adversity, we will continue fighting for the causes that are important for the advancement of the nation, and we will do so through dignified, courageous and professional parliamentary work,” Moreno commented on his social networks. “The true PRI members will always stand up for the party, with pride, with loyalty and with our heads held high,” he added.
The main difference between the PRI and the PAN in these last two weeks has been that the PAN militancy has shown signs of disagreement and dissidence, symptoms that a certain democratic spirit for the contrast of ideas still exists. The PRI members have been much more discreet or have already left the party. Former tricolor leader Dulce María Sauri has been an exception, but she has not been listened to either. After the migration of important leaders – former Secretaries of State, former governors, former legislators, former party leaders – and territorial bases to Morena, the party is experiencing a new deficiency, it is running out of critics.
The PRD plays its own game. The Aztec sun no longer has control over its own resources and the electoral authorities pave the way for its financial liquidation, after being notified that it did not obtain enough votes to maintain the registry. Zambrano sees challenging the vote as the last resort to scratch the 3% mark.
Some young militants came out to ask for their departure from the leadership after the elections, as did Silvano Aureoles or former deputy Luis Cházaro after being relegated during the electoral process, but the formation seems mortally wounded. Former leader Jesús Ortega defends the cause of fighting the registration in the courts, but Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo, who was president of the party more than a decade ago and also presided over the lower house, is already trying a new route through the National Civic Front. In 2018, the PRD obtained almost 5.5% of the votes and there was already talk of the worst crisis since its founding. District calculations give it 2.43% this year.
After the debacle, the distribution of responsibilities is unavoidable and necessary, despite the fact that none of the main people responsible has taken a step forward. The crisis, however, goes beyond names and surnames. It’s deeper. The PRI and the PAN are expected to change leaders in the second half of this year, if there are no unforeseen extensions.
Although several have raised their hands to assume the leadership, the biggest surprise after an unexpectedly overwhelming election is that there is still no reconstruction project or internal debates for formal reflection or official calls to see what is coming. And the signs that patience has been lost are increasingly evident. Cortés was re-elected for three years on October 2, 2021. Next October 1 he will arrive in the Senate, along with Alito Dark. The paradox is that, while the future of the leaders seems secure, that of their parties appears increasingly uncertain.
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