Here Mexico

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

Not good! In this year’s elections, 12 states will be electing a new Governor: Zacatecas, Durango, Chihuahua, Aguascalientes, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Sinaloa, Puebla, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Quintana Roo and Hidalgo. And three will hold mid-term elections to renew the state legislature and municipal authorities: Yucatan, Chiapas and Baja California.

PRI is already feeling the heat of possible alliances in the states where it holds the power. PAN and PRD are enemies because of their points of view, but they are friends when it comes to taking PRI out of power.

Do you want an example? In the State of Hidalgo the PRI has been in office for 80, yes, 80 years in a row. PAN candidate Xochil Alvarez is very popular and she is well known for her spicy use of the language. She has said that without an alliance with PRD, Convergencia and PT she won’t be able to win. But PRD is still thinking about it.

Finally they paid attention! This year, at least in Guanajuato, public resources used to finance political parties will go down 50 percent.

In 2009 political parties received 85 million pesos, but this year, after people from all walks of life in the state showed their disagreement, the General Council of the State of Guanajuato Electoral Institute is only authorizing 45 million pesos.

The austerity in the nation’s capital won’t be for everyone.

In 2010 members of the Federal District Electoral Institute, the Legislative Assembly, the local Supreme Court, the Federal District Electoral Tribunal, the Human Rights Commission and the Institute of Access to Public Information will be able to keep their bonuses, private medical insurance, office expenses and high salaries.

Local deputies decided to leave this option open, even though local government offices have to follow some measures to avoid misspending public resources.

The austerity hasn’t reached the autonomous bodies, autonomous bodies such as the Administrative Disputes Tribunal (ACT), the Local Board of Conciliation and Arbitration of the DF (JLCA), the Autonomous University of Mexico City (UACM), the Accounting Office ALDF of Finance and the Judicial Council of TSJDF.

Because of this, and many other things, journalist and diplomat Garizurieta said that “living outside the budget is living in a mistake.”