They seek to continue opposition alliance towards 2023 and 2024

The six organizations: National Civic Front; Citizen Power; Yes for Mexico; MX Civil Society; Une México and Unidos por México, were unified around “Unidos”, a group that will prepare a government project for 2024 and which they will present to the PAN, PRI, PRD and Movimiento Ciudadano, in order to allow the registration of a candidate. unit president.

Political and business figures attended the Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros, such as Claudio X. González; Gustavo de Hoyos Walther and Emilio Álvarez Icaza, who presented “United”, whose objective will be to achieve a broad and plural citizen organization, including – they said – those citizens who voted or are disappointed in the current government of Morena, headed by President Andrés Manuel López Workshop.

They mentioned that the new organization not only intends to reject the government, but also propose ideas, as well as promote and defend the citizen vote, combat abstentionism and set a record for citizen participation in the 2024 federal elections.

In the presentation of “United” it was said that its members will develop, through an Internet site and regional thematic forums, a government program on matters of prosperity, freedom, justice, equality and inclusion, and which they will deliver to the political parties of opposition. In March 2023 they will present their country project at a citizen convention.

Emilio Álvarez Icaza, current independent senator, affirmed that “United” is a broad, plural agreement that includes “those who have been disappointed in this government.”

He added that it contains five elements: democratic unity around a program of citizen causes to confront and defeat the current federal government in 2024. They will seek a single candidacy against the government alliance.

With different candidates, the probability of victory decreases. With a candidacy we win. With two or more, we will most likely lose, ”he said.

He indicated that they will also seek unity candidacies in all the popular election positions at stake in 2024, in particular to obtain a majority in the Chambers of the Union Congress.

looking for matches

Álvarez Icaza said that “United” will immediately begin talks with the opposition parties to agree that in 2024 there will be a government and legislative electoral alliance.

For his part, Gustavo de Hoyos stated that in 2021 it was already possible to build an electoral alliance between the PAN, PRI and PRD, despite having been historical rivals, since the future of the country was at stake. He pointed out that thanks to this alliance, some government initiatives in constitutional matters could be stopped, and from 164 to 223 federal deputies, and Morena lost 53 seats, while in Mexico City she won 9 of the 16 mayoralties, among others. triumphs.

“The trend shows that the alliance in government has been losing votes. In 2021, 30 million voted for her. For the 2021 midterm election, only 21 million and only 15 million in the recall exercise,” he said.

viable route

The citizen initiative “United” is viable because it brings together all the social sectors of the country, economic and political groups, and generates a real alternative to the government of Morena, for which the PRI, PAN, PRD and Movimiento Ciudadano must open their spaces to the citizenship, because otherwise, their own permanence and interests are at stake, experts agreed.

Consulted separately, Ulises Corona Ramírez, academic and researcher at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the UNAM, and Dr. José Antonio Crespo, research professor at CIDE, agreed that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will try to disqualify “United” with its usual qualifiers and insults, as it is made up of Claudio X. González and Gustavo de Hoyos.

They indicated that the new organization does not seek to convince the most faithful followers of President López Obrador, but rather the lower-middle classes, those who do not agree with the federal government and those citizens without a party or undecided.

The two experts agreed that the opposition parties as a whole are at risk of losing electorally to Morena in 2023 and 2024 if they fail to achieve an electoral alliance and a single presidential candidacy, as well as a coalition government.

For his part, Ulises Corona said: “I see that, even for the very survival of these political groups, they leave aside their great leaders so that they can see their future, because they could even disappear as parties.”

Given the current suspension of the PRI, PAN and PRD alliance, Ulises Corona indicated that no political alliance is permanent or lasting. He believed that the Va Por México alliance of these three parties played an important role in showing in the 2021 elections that Morena is not omnipotent, while “Unidos” now represents a more open and plural alliance, since it brings together civil society, groups business, “and this brings together popular middle classes who are the ones who really make the change”; in addition to business political groups that have the economic weight to make major transformations.

Crespo recognized, however, that it will not be easy for “United” to convince all the opposition parties to adopt its citizen’s agenda, “because the parties have their own interests, and within there are characters who seek their own interest.”

“Something that can be decisive for whether or not there is a coalition is how the PRI behaves with the electoral reform. If the PRI votes with the president’s initiative, it’s all over,” he maintained.

jorge.monroy@eleconomista.mx