Politics: Opposition mired in internal crises and low approval, despite poor AMLO results
Mexico is experiencing several economic and political negative effects as a result of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s failed policies. Yet the two main opposition parties, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the National Action Party (PAN) are bogged down in multifaceted crises and have been unable to increase their weakened support among voters.
The crises are expressed on three levels. An identity crisis centered on their very ideological and political definition. Having just proclaimed itself opposed to neoliberalism –a possible overture to AMLO- the PRI’s history of ideological ambiguity has long reflected its tendency to remold itself in the image of whomever was the President of Mexico during the many decades of PRI rule. The PAN, the center-right traditional party of the middle class, has been shifting further to the right. Both need to offer society credible, attractive and effective proposals.
An organic crisis, with the two opposition parties increasingly divorced from their traditional base of support in society. The PAN has a weak territorial structure and has only 300,000 affiliates. The PRI can no longer offer its supporters the kinds of perks and privileges associated with holding the highest office in the land, and has been unable to stop hemorrhaging and losing forces to Morena.
Finally, the PRI and the PAN face a leadership crisis. They have been unable to renew their leadership on a national, state or local level or bring young activists into their top bodies.
Given the country’s worsening political and economic outlook, the opposition parties have an enormous responsibility, but it is unclear they can beat Morena in the 2022 gubernatorial races and the 2024 presidential elections. Opinion polls show they remain discredited in the eyes of many voters, with low approval ratings. Even together they are below Morena’s numbers.
Moreover, none of the opposition parties have credible presidential candidates, further complicating their chances of dislodging Morena from power. For many the only solution would be to unite around a Civic Front with an open primary to choose a presidential contender, thereby at least partially overcoming negative voter perceptions of the established parties.
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