Idioma

 

A couple of days ago, the newspaper La Nación de Buenos Aires published an interview with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in which the ex-president of Brazil stated that “democracy is an alternation of power, not just of people, but also of the different sectors of society”.

The challenge that Enrique Pena Nieto is up against is an alternation of government on a federal level, but also an alternation inside of his own party and even in the Mexican political system.  This triple alternation calls on the future president to defend and represent both his party’s principles and the principles of the multicolor democratic plurality which is now present in different sectors of Mexican society.

Although it might seem that a phrase is worn out, that doesn’t make it any less true.  This is no longer the Mexico run by one man alone, represented by one doctrine, ideology, religion or party.  This is a nation that has been the scene of radical and dizzying cultural changes, where the worst error that a politician can make is that of trying to govern with the outdated mentality and schemes from twelve, thirty or forty years ago.

This is what a lot of groups just aren’t getting.  During the debate on labor reform, when it came to voting on labor union transparency and democracy, the clash between two types of agendas became apparent: the social agenda, the one that comes from the Street, as we have so baptized it here with great importance; and the elite agenda.

When Pena Nieto got back from Europe, he had to dot his i’s and cross his t’s.  “Gentleman,” he could have told legislators, “during my campaign I made unbreakable promises about labor union transparency and accountability with different organizations.  To this, he could have added: “Nobody can just be half-pregnant, half-honored or halfway democratic”.

These days, a lot of people are worried that the labor reform has gone back to the Chamber of Deputies.  What would have really been serious, and an authentic political suicide, is that the president elect hadn’t taken some steps to assure what he had promised during his campaign had been thrown in the garbage even before he had assumed office.

It has come to pass that the PAN and PRD ended up being the parties hoisted their democratic banners for all to see during the debate on labor reform, when, on the other hand, the PRI could have taken shown itself to be the vanguard party based on the proposals and promises that Pena Nieto made during his campaign.

Attention!  There are signs that there are some people who cannot or do not want to understand the project and language of the next President of Mexico.

The meetings that Pena Nieto has had with 5 left-wing heads of state – 2 future presidents and 3 who are still in office – precisely speaks of the need to usher in a structure which would allow for plurality in government and in the decision-making process.

Nowadays, no one can run a government by themselves; not even a party.  This is even less so when they are tied up in old interests.  The 19 million voters who turned out to vote for the PRI candidate did so with the hope that a free man and fresh face would end up in office, someone who was innovative and able to avoid pitfalls set by those who would not want to see his projects come to fruition.