Today, the Pact for Mexico will escape the stalemate in which it finds itself. Gustavo Madero, PAN National President, will rejoin the agreement by signing the amendment, which includes action to safeguard social programs against misuse for electoral gain.
The pact between the federal government and political parties includes creation of a citizen's body to police the use of social programs. These programs will be suspended 45 days before the elections on the 7th of July.
The signing of the amendment will take place at 1:00 PM in the National Palace and be attended by President Enrique Peña Nieto. Jesús Zambrano, PRD President, confirmed his attendance and that of his PAN counterpart, Madero. Zambrano said the PAN and the PRD had proposed the safeguarding amendment in order to end the stalemate which has brought the Pact to a standstill for the last two weeks.
The amendment
The signing of the amendment will take place at 1:00 PM in the National Palace and be attended by President Enrique Peña Nieto. Jesús Zambrano, PRD President, confirmed his attendance and that of his PAN counterpart, Madero. Zambrano said the PAN and the PRD had proposed the safeguarding amendment in order to end the stalemate which has brought the Pact to a standstill for the last two weeks.
The amendment
“has been developed, we are just fine-tuning. We are looking over the amendment and the commitments to safeguard social programs from electoral misuse. It is this that will be ready tomorrow and will enable the Pact to move forward,” he said in an interview with Milenio. “Both the PAN and the PRD have contributed to its content."When questioned about the investigation by the Special Prosecutor for Electoral Crimes of the PGR [Attorney General's office] into the complaints about the [possible use of social service funds for electoral purposes in] Veracruz, he explained that
“what we do know is that the PGR is going to bring charges against all public servants who were reported”.
He said
“it came to light that Peña Nieto said 'don´t worry, Rosario' [Rosario Robles, Secretary of Social Development] and a few days later, in Puebla, he made a phone call to us, requesting a constructive conversation in order to restart negotiations on the Pact. I believe that the government’s actions suggest that the 'don´t worry, Rosario' attitude has been left behind."Although Zambrano said yesterday afternoon ... that Enrique Peña Nieto’s government has failed to remove PRI supporters from the Secretariat of Social Development (SEDESOL), a few hours later he revealed that the circumstances had changed: “A lot has happened in the last four hours”.
He confirmed that both he and Gustavo Madero are satisfied with the content of the amendment to the Pact for Mexico.
“We wanted action, not just words, and we’ve finally started to see things happening.”The measures, he added,
“will help to prevent underhanded acts, as it has already been made clear that people will be held to account, it’s a positive sign. This is one of the various provisions included in the amendment.”Regarding calls for the impeachment of Rosario Robles, SEDESOL Secretary, and Javier Duarte, Governor of Veracruz, he explained that because this is a legislative matter, it is not among the demands made of the administration by the parties; moreover, it is up to the Chamber of Deputies, not the executive branch, to resolve this.
“The administration has nothing to do with this, though it would be a good sign if something was done about the case. The calls for the impeachment of Robles and Duarte will be taken further – the matter will be decided in the Chamber of Deputies when the time comes,” he said.The citizens' council [to monitor the use of social service funds] will not be ready before the 7th of July, the PRD politician explained.
“Immediate actions are one thing, then there are also the actions that have to come later. The citizens' council is something that will have to be started to be worked on, but it will be difficult to act between now and the 7th of July.”
Among the provisions of the amendment is creation of a National Electoral Institute, which aims to federalize state electoral bodies, following the PAN's and PRD’s repeated complaints about bias in state electoral institutions.
Key Facts
- Gustavo Madero, PAN President, withdrew from public events of the Pact for Mexico following his party’s complaints against 47 SEDESOL members and the Governor of Veracruz.
- Madero's PRD counterpart, Jesús Zambrano, followed him in announcing a halt to the agreement until the administration took measures to prevent social programs from being used to the PRI's electoral benefit.
- Presentation of financial reforms was called off because of the threats by the party presidents, and it is expected that once the Pact negotiations recommence, the initiative will be presented
Spanish original
Key Facts
- Gustavo Madero, PAN President, withdrew from public events of the Pact for Mexico following his party’s complaints against 47 SEDESOL members and the Governor of Veracruz.
- Madero's PRD counterpart, Jesús Zambrano, followed him in announcing a halt to the agreement until the administration took measures to prevent social programs from being used to the PRI's electoral benefit.
- Presentation of financial reforms was called off because of the threats by the party presidents, and it is expected that once the Pact negotiations recommence, the initiative will be presented
Spanish original