MexLeft: Going Left?
MexLeft: Going Left?
“For us democracy is a
question of human dignity, and human dignity is political freedom.”
Olof Palme
Por: Erreh Svaia
After the
debacle of the PRD in the DF, one might expected it to be a fatal blow to the
left, but watching the result of the elections in a national scale it seems
that after the 12 years of the PAN (right wing) in the government and about 4
years of the PRI (center?) as successor, Mexican politics are getting more and
more closer to the left, I hardly see Andres Manuel Lopez's Morena as a left
wing party, they are closer to the Socialismo del Siglo XXI, or to populism,
like in Venezuela, Morena´s triumph in the DF is a sign of the citizens anger
against traditional political parties, is a passionate vote for a radical left
a little bit undefined, but is a sign of a needed change in the country.
Nuevo León´s El Bronco is a sign of similar thing, although it is a little particular phenomenon, while El Bronco political career was made in the PRI, we should remember that it blossomed in the syndical branch of that party, a dark branch that has a lot to do with social left and populist practices, El Bronco might not define himself as a leftish candidate, but his proposals clearly flirted with the left, we don't know, perhaps he could radicalize more as time passes by, or perhaps he could be managed by the business men who backed him up in the political campaign and we could end up with more centered, less radical results.
In Jalisco another turn to the left took place, Movimiento Ciudadano´s candidate Enrique Alfaro won the elections for major of the Guadalajara City, Movimiento Ciudadano is a party identified with the left, but in recent years has followed a rather pragmatic approach that has paid off well, making them now, one of the main political forces to be reckoned with in Jalisco, Alfaro is a perfect representative of his party, open, practical and willing to collaborate with both the left and the right, his approach is definitely one more personal less ideological and more willing to prove different routes and more logical solutions.
The big question is what will happen to the PRD after their failure in the country's capital? Miguel Angel Mancera, the capital´s major and PRD´s main asset could not be appealing enough to the masses, and Mancera, another pragmatic figure himself might be looking for a new platform or alliance in order to look forward to the presidential election in 2018, he could definitely give Morena a softer side, less radical and possible more appealing to the more centered voter.
Nuevo León´s El Bronco is a sign of similar thing, although it is a little particular phenomenon, while El Bronco political career was made in the PRI, we should remember that it blossomed in the syndical branch of that party, a dark branch that has a lot to do with social left and populist practices, El Bronco might not define himself as a leftish candidate, but his proposals clearly flirted with the left, we don't know, perhaps he could radicalize more as time passes by, or perhaps he could be managed by the business men who backed him up in the political campaign and we could end up with more centered, less radical results.
In Jalisco another turn to the left took place, Movimiento Ciudadano´s candidate Enrique Alfaro won the elections for major of the Guadalajara City, Movimiento Ciudadano is a party identified with the left, but in recent years has followed a rather pragmatic approach that has paid off well, making them now, one of the main political forces to be reckoned with in Jalisco, Alfaro is a perfect representative of his party, open, practical and willing to collaborate with both the left and the right, his approach is definitely one more personal less ideological and more willing to prove different routes and more logical solutions.
The big question is what will happen to the PRD after their failure in the country's capital? Miguel Angel Mancera, the capital´s major and PRD´s main asset could not be appealing enough to the masses, and Mancera, another pragmatic figure himself might be looking for a new platform or alliance in order to look forward to the presidential election in 2018, he could definitely give Morena a softer side, less radical and possible more appealing to the more centered voter.
The world
itself seems bent on a detour towards the left, with thinkers like Piketty and
Krugman signaling the way for better
distribution of the richness and a more intelligent social approach without falling
into the violent and radical traps of old obsolete socialism, in the meantime
México seems to be leaning towards the left, it's seems that society is looking
for a project that can penetrate and bring benefit towards the poorest sectors
of the country, but it is important to look for a project practical enough to
avoid falling in the populist trap and start developing a progressive way that
could start evolving into social democracy which could definitely mean the
arrival of new maturity in our political system in which projects can benefit from
both left and right .
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