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 Editorials | Opinions | April 2005 
PAN Faces Problems In 2006
 José Carreño - El Universal
| | President Vicente Fox's National Action Party (PAN) has failed to mobilize its base and keep in touch with its members between election periods. |
President Vicente Fox's National Action Party (PAN) faces a distinct disadvantage in the 2006 elections, since the left has a more charismatic candidate, and the nation's largest party has a better organized base, according to analyst Yemile Mizrahi.
"The ranks are thin," said Mizrahi, a Mexican who lives in the United States. and who has authored a book about the PAN. She added the PAN is still run like a small opposition party and "lacks purpose" in its political strategies.
The party would have trouble finding a candidate to beat leftist Mexico City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador if he is allowed to run, she said. López Obrador could be barred from running by charges leveled against him that he violated a court order.
At the same time, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ran the country for 71 years before losing to Fox in 2000, has a massive party base compared to the PAN's scant 200,000 members, Mizrahi said.
"The party has not modernized its base or expanded its membership," she said, noting that the PAN puts up numerous requirements to becoming a member, making it easier to run for office with the party than actually joining it.
She added the PAN has failed to mobilize its base and keep in touch with its members between election periods, because the party leadership has associated these tactics with the PRI.
She said another problem is that while Fox has performed well overall, there is widespread disappointment from the electorate because of unfulfilled campaign promises.
"The country hasn't fallen apart, the economy hasn't collapsed, there is more political tolerance and extreme poverty has been reduced," she said. "But Mexico still has a considerable social gap."
Mizrahi's book, "From Martyrdom to Power: The Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) in Mexico," was published in the United States last year in English and will be released in Spanish in Mexico on April 15. Mizrahi has also worked as a consultant with the World Bank and the Organization of American States (OAS). |
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