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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2006 
Mexican Elections Chief Calls for Rule Change
 Adam Thomson - FT.com
| | Luis Carlos Ugalde, president of Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute. |
The head of Mexico’s electoral authority has called for a relaxation of the strict rules that prevent government officials from publicly supporting presidential candidates.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Luis Carlos Ugalde, president of Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), said: “What we are witnessing today in terms of the prohibitions of public functionaries is something that should disappear soon. A liberal democracy requires freedom of speech.”
Mr Ugalde’s comments follow a series of heated exchanges between the main political parties as Mexico prepares to elect a new president on July 2. In particular, the Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution party (PRD) claim that President Vicente Fox has gone beyond what the law allows.
They have accused Mr Fox of blatant electioneering in favour of Felipe Calderón of his own National Action party (PAN). Mexican law prohibits public officials from openly endorsing or campaigning on behalf of candidates.
In an interview last month Mr Fox dismissed the claims. He said his tour around the country was no different from what he always did at the beginning of the year. “I have visited all Mexico’s states more than 30 times during my presidency, so there is nothing new in what I am doing now,” he said.
Nevertheless, the IFE recently banned a Fox-sponsored advertisement for fear it could sway voter sentiment.
Mr Ugalde’s comments will come as a surprise to many, particularly as the campaigns are now in full swing. A poll published on Thursday shows that Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the leftwing PRD is 10 points ahead of Mr Calderón.
Mr Ugalde stopped short of calling for an immediate change in the law, and suggested instead that, once the presidential election process had concluded, Congress “debate with absolute clarity and establish clearly what can and cannot be done”.
One of the main arguments for the restrictions, said Mr Ugalde, had been that the PRI, which ruled Mexico for 71 consecutive years until 2000, traditionally used the political and financial power of the presidential office and state governorships to help its candidates illegally.
“Today, the possibility of the discretional use of government funds to back campaigns is much lower than six years ago, and in a few years it will be even lower,” Mr Ugalde said.
“We are in a period of transition. That transition required once more, and I hope for the last time, that the electoral authority establishes certain restrictions.” |
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