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 Editorials | June 2005 
Odds Lengthen on Creel Candidacy
 Kenneth Emmond - The Herald Mexico
| | Santiago Creel |
Santiago Creel had not even formally launched his bid to become the presidential candidate for the National Action Party (PAN) when he shot himself in the foot.
The foot is not a vital organ but this shot could prove fatal, politically speaking.
Less than a week before he resigned as interior secretary on June 1, Creel's department issued permits to a number of firms, allowing them to open a total of 176 betting parlors throughout Mexico. One company, Apuestos Internacionales, S.A. de C.V., got 65 of those licenses.
That was one bet Creel is sure to lose if in fact it was a bet and not an innocent blunder. That's still not clear and perhaps never will be.
Apuestos Internacionales is a subsidiary of Televisa, the nation's largest television network. Past experience suggests that betting parlors are moneymaking machines.
What's more, the permits allow each betting parlor to set up an electronic network with terminals in remote centers. This means a limited number of centers can be parlayed into a nationwide macro-network of betting shops. The licenses remain in force for 25 years, with the possibility of a 15-year extension.
Always ready to think the worst, Creel's political enemies, along with some incurable skeptics in the news media, have already concluded that the former Interior Secretary was setting himself up for some positive media coverage in his quest for the presidency by arranging a quid pro quo with the television network.
Evidence has come to light that as recently as April 19, Creel said his department had no applications pending for betting parlor permits. The major beneficiary of the spate of permit-issuing the following month, Apuestos Internacionales, didn't even exist until April of this year.
Another curious element is that this inordinate number of permits was issued in the midst of a still-undecided constitutional case before the Supreme Court relating to gaming regulations.
Creel's response to questions about the permits was that everything was done according to law, and that in any case he was merely "democratizing" gaming in Mexico.
"You should be investigating the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party), to find out why it gave out so few permits despite its powers of discretion, creating a monopoly," he said.
He added that this type of decision is made at a lower level, by Ezequiel González, general director of Management of Gaming and Raffles. Creel's deputy secretary, Felipe González, stepped in to say he was responsible for granting the permits. No doubt we will be hearing from both of them in the weeks to come.
PRI members maintain that Creel committed a criminal offense by exceeding his ministerial discretion however that might be defined. The party used its majority in the Chamber of Deputies to create a 12-person all-party commission to look into the issue.
Though it would seem plausible to complete this type of investigation within a few weeks, the PRI has arranged things to keep the kettle simmering much longer. The commission is to report its findings to Congress on April 30, 2006.
Last week Creel was called before the PAN's National Executive Committee to clarify things. Senator Marco Antonio Adame said later the party accepted his explanation.
The Interior Secretariat and the Attorney General's department, which until recently had remained singularly incurious about this apparent confluence of interests, have launched their own internal inquiries. The upshot is that this will be one of the most-investigated actions of 2005.
Whatever the outcome of those inquiries, Creel is certain to come out a loser.
If indeed something emerges that is akin to influence peddling or exceeding ministerial discretion in the granting of the licenses, Creel could be subject to criminal charges.
Since no one can run for elected office who is facing criminal charges, the legal fallout could render him constitutionally ineligible to be a candidate.
The implications for Creel are stark. Does any party want to select a candidate who might be declared ineligible weeks before the July 2, 2006 presidential election?
If the investigation uncovers nothing illegal, public perception of him as something of a sneak and a shady dealer will remain. This is bound to cost him support both within the party and, if he wins the nomination and remains free of criminal charges next April, at the voting booth.
Even if he lives down the prospect of criminal charges and the negative image, he will come out of the controversy looking more like a bumbler than someone capable of managing the daily intricacies of the ship of state. That may be unfair, but who says politics are fair?
At worst Creel has imperiled his ability to stand as a candidate, and at best he has shot himself in the foot and will spend the next 10 months campaigning with a limp.
Kenneth Emmond is a freelance journalist and economist who has lived in Mexico since 1995. Kemmond00@yahoo.com |
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