President Evil
Neo-liberal and conservative criticism of the left freqeuntly rests with the latter's love affair with big governmnet. Well, prepare for the capitalist fat cats to tip their velvet top hats and polish their monicles in smug staisfaction: turns out it was Earth all along.
In rigid conformity with the big governmnet stereotype, Mexican President Correct Lopez Manuel Obrador and his PRD party have decided to form a Parallel Governmnet with himself as Mexico's "legitimate President". Talk about redundancy! A recent article by Laura Carlsen of Foreign Policy In Focus explains that:
"On September 16, over one million people raised their hands in a vote to recognize center-left leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as the "legitimate president" of Mexico. Gathered in Mexico City's historic center, the delegates to the National Democratic Convention (NDC) agreed to inaugurate their president on November 20-ten days before the inauguration of the officially recognized candidate, Felipe Calderon. This act of civil resistance ushered in a new stage in an electoral conflict that has developed into an all-out battle for the country's future".
Whoa. Looks like the Mexican state is melting down quicker than a creamy pot of cheddar
fondue. Ya Pasta!
A week or so ago, someone's blog interpreted the unorthodox measures takenby Obrador supporters as a possible case of an excess of rights. After all, if the election of Calderon was offically sanctioned by the federal Electoral Instutitute, as it was, then Mexicans should have no right to questions the validity of an election if by doing so they may be sowing the seeds of civil unrest.
I take issue with this analyses. I wold say that if the civil unrest in Mexico stems form anything, it is a traditional disregard for rights, be they political, economic, or human. It's not that it isn't possible for an excess of rights to lead to chaos (hate speech, for instance?), much in the same way it is possible to put too much cocoa in a delicous Mole Poblano ( a savory, yet subtley sweet sauce used to cook Chicken and or
Pork). However, the Mole Poblano of Mexican democracy has long been bitter and grainy, suffering from a lack of it's most precious ingredient, the choclatey cocoa of human and civil rights.
I am so hungry.
The civil unrest that continues to grow in Mexico City can be seen as a direct result of a traditional disregard by the state for democratic rights. Until 2000, the federal govenrmet had been ruled by a one party dictatorship for 70 years. In 1988 in particular, the vote strealing that cost Obrador's party the federal election was so blatant and obvious that it has made many Mexicans suspicious of their basic democ ratic insttituions. Vote stealing, clientelism, and hegemonic local party machines continue to distort regional elections (in Oaxaca for instance,. where a PRI strongman stole the 2004 state eleciton). In this context, the irregulairties of this election, with it's missing ballots, mysterious computer glithes, and blatant pro-establishment rulings of the PRI/PAN dominated Federal Electoral Institute, are bound to cause a crises of legitimacy in terms of Mexican govenrmnetal insituions. 70 years of misrule means that any close election is bound to be contested by the losing side, regarldess of which party wins.
This leads me to one conclusion: in order for the instituions of government to function, they need legitimacy. In the discourse of the modern naiton state, the litmus test for institutional legitimacy will be a state's adherence to the political and human rights from which it rhetorically derives its mandate.
Love
Bob J Neubauer
last301
In rigid conformity with the big governmnet stereotype, Mexican President Correct Lopez Manuel Obrador and his PRD party have decided to form a Parallel Governmnet with himself as Mexico's "legitimate President". Talk about redundancy! A recent article by Laura Carlsen of Foreign Policy In Focus explains that:"On September 16, over one million people raised their hands in a vote to recognize center-left leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as the "legitimate president" of Mexico. Gathered in Mexico City's historic center, the delegates to the National Democratic Convention (NDC) agreed to inaugurate their president on November 20-ten days before the inauguration of the officially recognized candidate, Felipe Calderon. This act of civil resistance ushered in a new stage in an electoral conflict that has developed into an all-out battle for the country's future".
Whoa. Looks like the Mexican state is melting down quicker than a creamy pot of cheddar
fondue. Ya Pasta!A week or so ago, someone's blog interpreted the unorthodox measures takenby Obrador supporters as a possible case of an excess of rights. After all, if the election of Calderon was offically sanctioned by the federal Electoral Instutitute, as it was, then Mexicans should have no right to questions the validity of an election if by doing so they may be sowing the seeds of civil unrest.
I take issue with this analyses. I wold say that if the civil unrest in Mexico stems form anything, it is a traditional disregard for rights, be they political, economic, or human. It's not that it isn't possible for an excess of rights to lead to chaos (hate speech, for instance?), much in the same way it is possible to put too much cocoa in a delicous Mole Poblano ( a savory, yet subtley sweet sauce used to cook Chicken and or
Pork). However, the Mole Poblano of Mexican democracy has long been bitter and grainy, suffering from a lack of it's most precious ingredient, the choclatey cocoa of human and civil rights.I am so hungry.
The civil unrest that continues to grow in Mexico City can be seen as a direct result of a traditional disregard by the state for democratic rights. Until 2000, the federal govenrmet had been ruled by a one party dictatorship for 70 years. In 1988 in particular, the vote strealing that cost Obrador's party the federal election was so blatant and obvious that it has made many Mexicans suspicious of their basic democ ratic insttituions. Vote stealing, clientelism, and hegemonic local party machines continue to distort regional elections (in Oaxaca for instance,. where a PRI strongman stole the 2004 state eleciton). In this context, the irregulairties of this election, with it's missing ballots, mysterious computer glithes, and blatant pro-establishment rulings of the PRI/PAN dominated Federal Electoral Institute, are bound to cause a crises of legitimacy in terms of Mexican govenrmnetal insituions. 70 years of misrule means that any close election is bound to be contested by the losing side, regarldess of which party wins.
This leads me to one conclusion: in order for the instituions of government to function, they need legitimacy. In the discourse of the modern naiton state, the litmus test for institutional legitimacy will be a state's adherence to the political and human rights from which it rhetorically derives its mandate.
Love
Bob J Neubauer
last301
posted by Bob Neubauer at 2:45 PM
2 Comments:
Bob can I just say that I love your postings. Your use of pictures is so pleasing to the eye and your witty rhetoric make blogging appear almost 'fun'. As for down in Mexico - Looks like someone put to many Chilis in the Mole Poblano of the fight to recognize a 'legitimiate president'. No?
Bob,
This definitely seems like a tough situation. As you more or less stated, it is understandible, givin the history of electoral fraud, that people would be suspicious of such a close result.
People should respect the results of an election, unless there is some reasonable evidence that there was fraud. It shouldn't be soley based on the "feeling" that their candidate won. I'm not sure about the legitimacy of this result. I've read a few articles and can't recall what the exact controversey was, other than each candidates' supporters think their candidate won.
Here's a thought, given that the result was only a 0.58% difference (though according to Wikipedia, both the senate and deputies chamber give the PAN a 4% advantage, whatever that means), would it be that unreasonable to have some kind of recount? I believe the winner fought really hard against this, perhaps for good reason.
Post a Comment
<< Home