Mexico Elections - 2009
Mexico, with a population of approximately 111 million, is a federal republic composed of 31 states and a federal district, with an elected president and bicameral legislature. President Felipe Calderon of the National Action Party was elected in 2006 to a six-year term in generally free and fair multiparty elections. The country continued its fight against organized crime, which involved frequent clashes between security forces and drug traffickers. As the government brought enforcement pressure against drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs), both the DTOs and gangs within them battled each other for control of trafficking routes and markets, causing more than 8,000 drug related homicides during the year, as well as clashes between DTOs and security forces. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces. There were instances in which elements of these forces acted outside of the government's policies.
The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators and other indices reflected that corruption remained a problem at all levels of government, as some public officials continued to perpetrate bureaucratic abuses and some criminal acts with impunity. Corruption at the most basic level involved paying bribes for routine services or in lieu of fines to administrative officials and security forces. More sophisticated and less apparent forms of corruption included overpaying for goods and services to provide payment to elected officials and political parties.
President Calderon remarked in speeches in March and October that corruption was a serious problem in the police forces and a primary reason for the use of the military in the domestic counternarcotics fight. The CNDH reported that police, especially at the state and local level, were involved in kidnapping, extortion, and in providing protection for, or acting directly on behalf of, organized crime and drug traffickers. Local forces in particular tended to be poorly compensated and directly pressured by criminal groups, leaving them most vulnerable to infiltration. According to a 2009 HRW report in impunity in the country, impunity was pervasive; this lack of accountability contributed to the continued reluctance of many victims to file complaints. Responsibility for investigating federal police abuse falls under the purview of the PGR or the Secretariat of Public Administration, depending on the type of offense.
The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. Most newspapers and television and radio stations were privately owned, and the government had minimal presence in the ownership of news media. Despite federal government support for freedom of the press, many journalists worked in dangerous environments. Reporters covering corrupt public officials and various organized criminal organizations acknowledged practicing self-censorship, recognizing the danger investigative journalism posed to them and to their families. During the year 12 journalists were killed and one disappeared.
The closely contested presidential and congressional elections of 2006, in which Felipe Calderon was elected president to a six-year term, were considered generally free and fair by the majority of neutral observers, including EU representatives and local and international civil society organizations. On 05 July 2009, midterm national legislative and local elections, which took place in select states, were free of significant violence or claims of fraud.
In the previous elections held in July 2006 in parallel with the elections to the Senate and the presidency the National Action Party (PAN) won 206 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) took 126 and 104 seats respectively. Five other parties won less than 20 seats each. Mr. Felipe Calderon (PAN) won the presidential elections pledging to tackle crime.
Upon assuming the post in December 2006 President Calderon launched a war on drug gangs by deploying thousands of troops. However drug-related violence remained rampant killing over 6 000 people in 2008 and the first half of 2009. The global economic crisis that originated in the United States severely affected Mexico. Although President Calderon responded by implementing tax cuts for business and investing in infrastructure projects Mexico's economy was expected to shrink by 5.5 per cent in 2009.
In April 2009 the country was hit by an outbreak of swine flu (H1N1 influenza). By the end of June it had killed over 100 people and affected some 10 000 people. Although the election campaign officially started on 3 May most parties initially refrained from holding rallies due to the epidemic. In the run-up to the polls rallies were held in accordance with government health guidelines requiring participants to stay at least seven feet away from each other.
In the 2009 elections the PAN was once again challenged by the PRI. The latter had dominated the country's presidency from 1929 until the election of Mr. Vicente Fox (PAN) in 2000. PRI's new leader Ms. Beatriz Elena Paredes Rangel emphasized that the party had learned from its errors referring to past corruption problems. The PRI used a slogan "proven experience new attitude" recalling over seven decades of the party's leadership. It pledged to provide new economic policies to tackle the economic crisis.
President Calderon pledged to continue to tackle crime. According to the government crime-related deaths dropped by 26 per cent in the first trimester of 2009. He urged voters' to allow the PAN to continue to work for economic growth job creation and public safety. The PRD led by Mr. Jesús Ortega also vowed to tackle organized crime. However it was reportedly losing ground due to internal splits. Polling took place without major incidents in most areas except in the state of Guerrero where 11 people including a PRD town councillor and his family were killed.
Turnout was reportedly low among the 78 million registered voters. The PRI won a decisive victory securing 237 seats up from 104. The PAN came in second with 143 seats losing 63. The PRD took 71 seats losing 55. Of all the eight parties represented in the outgoing Chamber only the Social Democratic and Peasant Alternative Party (ALT) failed to win seats. 141 women were elected. On 29 August the newly elected Chamber of Deputies held its first session and elected Mr. Francisco Ramírez Acuña (PAN) as its new Speaker.
The law prohibits all public and private funding of political advertisements on television or radio outside of time slots established by a respective state, requires placement of all political campaign advertisements through the Federal Elections Institute (IFE), and stipulates allocation of airtime among registered political parties based on their share of the vote in the most recent election. The law also prohibits negative campaign messages and establishes public spending limits for presidential elections. Recognition as a national political party by IFE is based on having won at least 2 percent of the vote in the previous national election.
There were 23 women in the 128-seat Senate and 138 women in the newly elected 500-seat lower house. Two female justices sat on the 11-member Supreme Court. There were two women in the 19-member cabinet, compared with one in the previous administration. Many state electoral codes provide that no more than 70 to 80 percent of candidates can be of the same gender. All political parties continued their efforts to increase the number of women running for elected office. Some utilized quotas requiring that a certain percentage of candidates on a party list be female. However, several parties ran female candidates, known as "Juanitas," who were not intended to serve in office. Before taking office, the parties orchestrated for the women to relinquish their positions to men. For example, after the July midterm elections, seven elected female deputies relinquished their seats and were replaced by men.
There were no established quotas for increased participation of indigenous groups in the legislative body, and no reliable statistics were available regarding minority participation in government. The law provides for the right of indigenous people to elect representatives to local office according to "usages and customs" law, rather than federal and state electoral law. Traditional customs varied by village. In some villages women did not have the right to vote or hold office; in others they could vote but not hold office.
By 2010 President Calderon's National Action Party (PAN) was the largest party in the Senate but lost that status in the Chamber of Deputies as a result of the July 2009 elections. The PRI gained a de facto majority in those elections in which every Chamber of Deputies seat was up for vote. Although the PRI did not control the presidency or a majority in the Senate, it was a significant force in Mexican politics, holding 19 governorships and often playing a pivotal role in forming coalitions in Congress.
Calderon deployed the military to fight the drug cartels shortly after he took office in 2006. More than 50,000 people had been killed since. Significant human rights-related problems included police and military involvement in serious abuses, including unlawful killings, physical abuse, torture, and disappearances. Widespread impunity and corruption remained serious problems, particularly at the state level, in the security forces, and in the judicial sector. Violence attributed to transnational and local criminal organizations, violence against women, and violence against journalists that limited freedom of expression persisted.
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