HOW HE SEES IT Political scandals in Mexico not SOP

By ENRIQUE ANDRADE GONZALEZ
KNIGHT RIDDER/TRIBUNE
"Scandal will be part of Mexico's democratic life, and as long as it does not affect economic stability it does not present a problem -- politics in Mexico are being Italianized," was the way Eduardo Sojo, chief of the public policy office of the Presidency of Mexico, put it in an interview.
Indeed there are relatively frequent political scandals in Italy, most due to corruption and involving important people from parliament, government or the financial world. What is more, all of these matters are subject to legal remedies and, for years, this has been the accepted means to resolve such doings.
Just as important, the Italian economy is not harmed directly as Italy is part of the European Union. As such, Italy functions according to rules set forth by the European community and parliament, that consequently guarantee the trust of both domestic and foreign investors.
In Mexico this is not the case.
History
For 71 years Mexico lived under a state party political system, one that was coordinated by each president during his six-year term in office. Its principles, rules and structures were defined according to circumstances, but always with an absolute interest of safeguarding the establishment and insuring continuity of the party in power, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
In 2000 the victory of President Vicente Fox broke this mold, in a political shift that opened the possibility of a new and presumably better political system, with clearer rules that could give Mexico a greater and positive certainty abroad.
The political challenge to the new government was to manage in the presidency with a majority of 42 percent, and at the same time provide stability in economic growth. As well, within the limits of constitutional legality it had to define the democratic rules that would allow competent policy internationally. All of this while being surrounded by powerful state governments, institutions and other organizations long identified with the past regime.
In order to do this the Fox government had to use the law, and of course negotiation, and it thus gave state reform and the new political rules priorities over economic reforms. This left two temptations in the wings, both of which are still present: the settling of accounts with previous governments and the PRI; and not to try to remain in power permanently.
Mexico's current political scandals could have been avoided, that in turn might have kept the presidential race from starting two years prematurely (a struggle that is still not on the proper course) and national judicial institutions from being questioned due to the inability to modernize them. The reality is that an all inclusive and all out power struggle is taking place, and officials either do not know how to apply the law, or they cannot or do not want to do so.
Faced with this reality the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), that so far has not gotten involved, must intervene. According to its governing code, the IFE must contribute to the development of democracy; to the preservation and strengthening of the political party system; and in guaranteeing periodic and peaceful elections for applicable officials in the executive and legislative branches of government.
Peaceful elections
The IFE has become more concerned with imposing fines on political parties for financial irregularities and it has failed to carryout the three aforementioned functions. And by not doing so in a timely manner, when it does intervene it may be too late. Considering the gravity of the scandals that include sparring between President Fox and Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the IFE cannot stay on the sidelines since a proper clarification of this subject will be fundamental in order to guarantee peaceful elections in 2006.
Each political event connected with the presidential succession should be addressed by IFE in its general council. By not doing so it contributes to the collapse of the party system and of democratic institutions. This because today's main political theme is the 2006 presidential election.
In Mexico's case, the scandals cannot be viewed as normal because their runaway emergence and promotion by all fronts irreversibly damages the democratic system. In turn this will have repercussions on the nation's economic development, as well as the judgment and decisions of investors.
X Enrique Andrade Gonzalez is a senior official with the office of the Presidency of the Republic, in Mexico City. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services