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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | May 2005 
Madrazo Targeted By Dissident Group
 Jorge Octavio Ochoa - El Universal
| President Fox declares the PAN will win the presidency in 2006 at a rally in León, Guanajuato, Saturday.
(Photo: EF) |
Mexico City - The fallout following a failed attempt to prosecute Mexico City's mayor has caused a group of dissidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to take on party president Roberto Madrazo and try to derail his bid for the national presidency.
Many in the group, which includes lawmakers, governors and former governors, want to be candidates themselves and, sensing Madrazo's weakness, are taking advantage of the moment to step up television spots and increase their visibility.
The group calls itself the Democratic Unity faction of the PRI, but it is also known by the acronym TUCOM, which stands for "Everyone united against Madrazo" in Spanish. The group's best known leaders are State of Mexico Gov. Arturo Montiel and Sen. Enrique Jackson.
They claim that Madrazo, who is currently the PRI's most visible leader and frontrunner to claim the party's presidential candidacy, made a mistake by working behind the scenes to ensure the PRI voted to strip capital Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador of his immunity from prosecution.
The PRI and President Vicente Fox's National Action Party (PAN) voted almost unanimously for the desafuero of López Obrador a process that is similar to impeachment.
However, the charges fizzled after a judge rejected them due to a technical error by federal prosecutors. Shortly after, in the face of massive protests and withering international criticism, Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha resigned. His replacement, Daniel Cabeza de Vaca, shelved the controversial case, saying there was no punishment in the law books for López Obrador's alleged crime of ignoring a court order.
The mayor has emerged as the clear favorite in 2006.
Before the vote against López Obrador, Madrazo proclaimed he would beat the popular mayor at the ballot boxes, just as in the past. Madrazo defeated López Obrador for the governorship of Tabasco in 1994. López Obrador said Madrazo overspent his campaign limits by US70 million, but the allegations have never been proven.
However, Madrazo's role in securing the PRI vote against the mayor, who now leads Madrazo in opinion polls by significant margins, have undermined his claims. The TUCOM says his support for the desafuero has undermined the party's credibility. |
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