Mexico's left refuses truly to embrace market economics, representative democracy and the rule of law. Obviously, many of its members and leaders do subscribe to these tenets and disapprove in private of Lopez Obrador's rabble-rousing antics. But as long they remain relatively powerless, Mexico will remain unbalanced, deprived of the modern left that it needs to combat poverty and inequality and hostage to those who still believe in revolution and the assault on the Winter Palace.
Without these twin transformations of its right and left, Mexico can only keep running in place while so many others speed forward. But change will not happen overnight, so Mexico needs short-term solutions to its travails.
The most urgent, feasible and relevant steps involve electoral and legal reforms aimed at avoiding a repeat of the current protests over the presidential vote. These include establishing a second-round run-off for presidential elections so that Mexico's next president has the support of more than 50 percent of the voters. But they also entail the reelection of representatives and senators, recourse to referendums for constitutional amendments and independent candidacies.
Perhaps most importantly, Mexico must devise a French-style semi-presidential system whereby a designated prime minister, ratified by Congress, is responsible for building majorities there.
Eliminating the purchase of air time on radio and television during campaigns, with the consequent reduction in their cost, would complement these changes.
None of these indispensable and long-postponed reforms will convince Lopez Obrador's followers that the end of poverty and inequality in Mexico is around the corner. But no significant improvement on these fronts can occur without thoroughly refashioning the country's decision-making process.
Fox and his team thought that the mechanisms that worked during the authoritarian period could simply be transferred to the democratic era and function smoothly. In fact, none of the major economic and social reforms Mexico desperately needs in order to grow more rapidly, distribute wealth more evenly and combat poverty more effectively can be passed if the institutional scaffolding is not rebuilt.
It is time for Mexico to turn the page, but it must turn the right page.
Jorge Castaneda was Mexico's foreign minister from 2000 to 2003 and is a professor of politics and Latin American studies at New York University.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
RSS