Mexico at a crossroads with Sunday's crucial elections
July 5, 1997
Web posted at: 8:09 p.m. EDT (0009 GMT)MEXICO CITY (CNN) -- The winds of change may finally reach hurricane strength in Mexico on Sunday as the country holds elections that are expected to dramatically transform the political landscape.
Many opinion polls suggest that the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, could lose control of Congress for the first time ever. And, perhaps more significantly, increasing numbers of Mexicans think the party would accept such a defeat.
The PRI, founded in 1929, has held on to power with a grip so strong that critics have labeled it "the perfect dictatorship." But in recent years, Mexico's ailing economy, a string of political scandals and increasingly democratic elections have whittled away the party's standing with the electorate.
Opposition parties may sweep Chamber of Deputies
As reported by CNN's Chris Kline
Mexico's 52 million registered voters will have the opportunity to choose most of a new Congress, including all of the lower house -- the 500-member Chamber of Deputies. In addition, 32 senators will be chosen.
Voters in six states also will select new governors. And, for the first time this century, residents of Mexico City will be able to vote for a mayor. Previously, the politically sensitive post was a presidential appointment.
Under a complicated voting system, the PRI needs at least 42 percent of the vote to achieve a majority in the lower house of Congress. Several opinion polls show it falling below that figure, putting President Ernesto Zedillo in the extraordinary position of facing a possible majority of lawmakers from opposition parties.
Many observers also say the PRI stands a fair chance of losing two of the six state elections.
A win by Cardenas could launch presidential bid
In the Mexico City mayoral race, opposition leader Cuauhtemoc Cardenas Solorzano of the Democratic Revolutionary Party holds a commanding lead in opinion polls.
The veteran politician narrowly lost the 1988 presidential race through what many observers allege was electoral fraud at the hands of the PRI.
If Cardenas becomes the new mayor of Mexico City, he would be in a powerful position to launch his third presidential bid in 2000.
Mexico City is widely regarded as a barometer of the nation's mood. The world's most populous city has long been one of contrasts, the gap between rich and poor plain to see.
The glitzy Polanco district, with its designer clothing stores and luxury car showrooms, is just one of the city's playgrounds for the rich.
The other end of the socioeconomic spectrum is represented by areas such as Ixtapalapa, where land squatters coexist alongside their livestock and chickens, and children play on dirt roads lined with garbage.
Many accuse government of ignoring the poor
It is voters in areas such as this who may make the difference in Sunday's election.
Worker Luis Aruro speaks for many when he accuses the current civic government of failing to address the needs of Mexico City's poorest residents. Aruro says he and others in his situation are tired of false hope.
Another bloc expected to push for change is that of female voters, including many in the upper strata of society who say they recognize the dangers of maintaining the status quo.
Such sentiments have been voiced in the past -- both in Mexico City and the country as a whole. But fears of trusting an untested regime have prompted voters to opt for the status quo at the very last minute.
Such is the demand this time for change, however, that Sunday's elections are expected to usher in a new era in Mexican politics -- an era which, many say, should have dawned a long time ago.
Mexico City Bureau Chief Chris Kline, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
- Newsmaker Profile: Ernesto Zedillo - Newsmaker Profile
Special Section:
- Mexico Elections '97 in English
- Elecciones Mexicanas '97 En Español
Related stories:
- Mexican elections seen as barometer of discontent - July 4, 1997
- Mexico City mayoral wannabes plug themselves one more time - July 2, 1997
- At final rally, PRI doesn't have much to celebrate - June 29, 1997
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