Mexico Elections - 2003
Mexico is a federal republic composed of 31 states and a federal district, with an elected president and a bicameral legislature. In July 2000, voters elected President Vicente Fox Quesada of the Alliance for Change Coalition in historic elections that observers judged to be generally free and fair, and that ended the Institutional Revolutionary Party's (PRI) 71-year hold on the presidency. In July, during federal elections to select members of Congress the PRI gained 12 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, giving it 223 of the 500 seats. The National Action Party (PAN) came in a distant second with 154 seats, down from its previous total of 205 seats. On the whole, the elections were judged fair and free by observers. The judiciary is generally independent; however, on occasion, it was influenced by government authorities, particularly at the state level. Corruption, inefficiency, impunity, disregard of the law, and lack of training were major problems.
The Government generally respected many of the human rights of its citizens; however, serious problems remained in several areas, and in some states, especially Guerrero, Chiapas and Oaxaca, a poor climate of respect for human rights presented special concern. State law enforcement officials were accused of committing unlawful killings. There were reports of vigilante killings. There were documented reports of disappearances. The police sometimes tortured persons to obtain information. Prosecutors used this evidence in courts, and the courts continued to admit as evidence confessions extracted under torture. There were cases of police torture of suspects in custody that resulted in deaths. Impunity remained a problem among the security forces, although the Government continued to sanction public officials, police officers, and members of the military. Alleged police involvement, especially at the state level, in narcotics-related crime, continued, and police abuse and inefficiency hampered investigations. Narcotics-related killings and violence increased, particularly in the northern states and Mexico City. Prison conditions were poor. The police continued to arrest and detain citizens arbitrarily.
The Government appeared to stall in its attempt to improve the domestic human rights situation, with a few exceptions. The peace process remained stalled at year's end. The break in contacts between the Government and the EZLN, that occurred when Zapatistas rejected the Law on Indigenous Culture and Rights passed in 2001 as a watered-down version of the San Andres Accords, continued during the year. In August, the Government called for a resumption of the dialogue. Conditions such as poverty and inequality that gave rise to the armed conflict in 1994 persisted. Sporadic outbursts of politically motivated violence continued to occur throughout the country, particularly in the southern states of Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca.
There were numerous allegations of the use of excessive force and the violation of international humanitarian law. During much of the year, the Government maintained approximately 14,000 to 20,000 troops in selected areas of Chiapas, and a smaller number in Guerrero. Two relatively small rebel groups, the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) and the Revolutionary Army of the People's Insurgency (ERPI), continued to be problems in Guerrero. Incidents of conflict in Chiapas between security forces and EZLN sympathizers, and in Guerrero between the army and the EPR and the ERPI, led to accusations of the use of excessive force; however, the confused circumstances of these clashes made those allegations difficult to substantiate.
The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these rights in practice. While the overall state of freedom of expression improved and expanded under the Fox administration, threats, libel actions, defamation suits, and harassment of journalists by politicians, local authorities, police, and narcotics trafficking organizations in the northern part of the country continued. Journalists outside the capital or large cities were the most threatened, as the majority of harassment cases originated in states outside the capital and in the northern part of the country. The national print and broadcast media no longer encountered serious obstruction from the Federal Government; however, journalists believed that there was a need for legislative reform of the criminal libel laws. Although no journalists were killed during the year, one radio journalist disappeared.
The Federal Government tolerated and did not attempt to impede criticism of the Government; however, local officials frequently reacted to criticism and unfavorable news articles by harassing journalists and suing them under criminal libel laws. In addition, government officials at all levels often attempted to obtain the names of journalists' confidential sources. In March, the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) at its midwinter meeting adopted a resolution that called on the Government to pass legislation that would protect the confidentiality of journalists' sources.
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully through periodic elections. As a result of electoral reforms approved and implemented in recent years, the political process and especially the electoral process have become more transparent. While elections are open and generally fair, accusations of abuses continued to occur, most often in state and local elections. Prior to the 2000 presidential election, the PRI had dominated politics, controlled the Federal Government, and won every presidential election since its founding in 1929. However, in 2000, voters elected President Vicente Fox, a member of the National Action Party and candidate of the Alliance for Change Coalition, with 43.3 percent of the vote. Observers, both international and domestic, judged the elections to be generally free and fair.
Presidents are elected every 6 years and cannot be reelected. In the July 2003 federal elections to elect members of Congress, the PRI gained 12 seats, giving it 223 of the 500 seats in Congress. The PAN came in a distant second with 154 seats, down from its previous total of 205 seats. The PRI had a working majority in the Senate.
The legislature amended the Constitution in 2000 to allow eligible citizens who are abroad to vote in presidential elections; however, the Senate failed to act on the necessary implementing legislation that would have made overseas voting possible in the 2000 election due to differences over the costs and requirements for voting. The national debate regarding overseas voting for the 2006 presidential elections continued during the year. In August, the state legislature of Zacatecas became the first state to allow migrants to run for state office, including citizens who have never lived in, and were not born in, the country.
The IFE, operating with full autonomy, arranged and supervised the congressional elections. It standardized the voter registration list and recruited and trained thousands of civil society volunteers to serve as independent electoral workers at the voting booths. The IFE also provided support to state electoral institutes in running state and local elections and was instrumental in overhauling electoral district boundaries to reflect demographic shifts. During the July local elections for Mexico City government, the Mexico City IFE fielded a number of electronic voting booths at various voting centers to test voter acceptance of the electronic ballot.
Opinion polls showed that while President Fox's approval ratings remained high, many voters across the country were disillusioned by his failure to fulfil the promises to create millions of jobs that he had made when he was elected in July 2000. Voters were also reported to be disappointed by his government's inability to push his main reform proposals through a divided Congress, where the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) the largest party in both Houses, had stymied the President's proposals for changing Mexico at almost every turn. Mr. Fox's party, the second largest in the Chamber since July 2000 with 206 seats, was unable to pass bills such as opening the electricity industry to more private investment and levying a tax on food and medicine to raise spending on social services. President Fox and his aides acknowledged the lack of new jobs but argued that they had done all they could.
The President's National Action Party (PAN) campaigned with the slogan, "Get off the brakes of change!", which was understood by the analysts to be a message aimed less at the voters than at the politicians of the PRI. The PRI had held uninterrupted power in Mexico for 71 years, until Mr. Fox won the presidency in 2000. Both Mr. Fox and PRI leader Mr. Robert Madrazo pledged to seek "consensus" following the election, after two years of political deadlock in the Congress. In the run-up to the election, Fox travelled all over the country announcing new joint private-public investment projects to spur growth, while his top aides met with some U.S. officials to announce a number of programmes to encourage U.S. investment in Mexico's most job-poor areas. Other major campaign issues revolved around election financing scandals experienced by both major parties.
For the 2003 elections, a record abstention rate was registered, with only some 42 per cent of the 64 million eligible voters casting votes, which was seen as a clear sign of voters' disenchantment with the biggest political parties.
According to official figures from the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), the PRI garnered 34.4 per cent of the vote, while President Vicente Fox's National Action Party (PAN) suffered a major set-back with 30.5 per cent, and the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) obtained 17.1 per cent. The figures also showed that the PRI had kept its relative majority in the Chamber of Deputies, extending its seats from 207 to 227. The PAN's share of seats dropped from 202 in 2000 to 158; whereas the PRD increased its seats from 51 to 100.
In the Chamber of Deputies, the PRI helds 223 seats; the PAN 154; the PRD 96; the Green Ecologist Party (PVEM) 17; the Labor Party (PT) 5; Democracy Convergence (CD) 5. The Nationalist Society Party, the Social Alliance Party, Mexico Posible and Fuerza Ciudadana all lost their political party registration because they did not achieve the threshold 2 percent of the vote to remain a political party. The IFE later ruled that the Green Party had met the required threshold. The PRI holds 60 seats in the Senate; the PAN 46; the PRD 16; the PVEM 5; and the CD 1. Legislators can and do on occasion change their party affiliation.
On the state level, the PRI holds governorships in 17 states, the PAN 8, the PRD 3, PRD-PT, PRD-PVEM, and PRD-PAN coalitions 4. On the municipal level, multi-party pluralism is well established. The PRD governs the Federal District, and the PAN governs 12 of the 20 largest cities. There were controversies over state and municipal elections. Six states held elections for governor together with the federal elections in July. There were disputes over gubernatorial election results in Sonora and Campeche, but they have been resolved. Four congressional seats, two direct vote seats and two proportional seats, were also in dispute.
There were no legal barriers to participation in politics by women. There are 23 women in the 128-seat Senate and 113 women in the 500-seat lower house. There were two women in the Cabinet and one female justice on the Supreme Court. No women serve as governors, although there have been female governors in the past. Nine women serve in the Mexico City cabinet, and 13 of the city's 23 key officials are women.
Many state electoral codes provide that no more than 70 to 80 percent of candidates can be of the same gender. All political parties were attempting to increase the number of women who run for elected office through formal and informal means. Some utilized quotas requiring that a certain percentage of candidates on a party list are female. Women candidates often led the ticket in districts where their parties had little chance of winning. According to statistics from 2002, the PRD's membership was 48 percent female, its leadership was 27 percent female, 26 percent of its representatives and 12 percent of its senators were female, and it had a female party president. The PAN has utilized more informal methods to increase female registration. An estimated 24 percent of its leadership is female, and close to 17 percent of representatives and 13 percent of its senators are female. PRI party rules mandate that 30 percent of its federal candidates be women. An estimated 24 percent of the party leadership, including its Secretary General, 16 percent of its representatives, and 18 percent of its senators are female.
There are no legal barriers to participation in politics by members of minorities or persons of indigenous descent. However, there were no statistics available regarding minority participation in the Government.
Constitutional changes in 1996 expanded the rights of indigenous people to elect representatives to local office according to "usages and customs," rather than federal and state electoral law. Only the states of Oaxaca and Quintana Roo have enacted implementing legislation to effect such local elections. Traditional customs vary from village to village. In some villages, women do not have the right to vote or to hold office. In others they can vote but not hold office.
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