BajaNomad

Strange bedfellows in BCS election (and results are in)

BajaNews - 2-7-2011 at 05:42 PM

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-e...

A conservative party wins a governorship with a candidate who defected from the main leftist group. All are vying against the centrist former ruling party that hopes to regain the presidency.

By Ken Ellingwood
February 8, 2011
Reporting from Mexico City —

In another case of topsy-turvy political allegiances in Mexico, the conservative party of President Felipe Calderon on Monday appeared to have won the governorship of the state of Baja California Sur with a candidate who once was a former foe from the main leftist party.

Marcos Covarrubias, who defected from the leftist party and ran as candidate of the right-wing National Action Party, or PAN, won by six percentage points over his nearest competitor, according to preliminary results of Sunday's balloting, with votes from all polling places tallied.

It is the first time the PAN has won in Baja California Sur, home of the Los Cabos tourist zone. The state was in the hands of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, since 1999, but the party has been weakened by infighting and poor performances by some incumbents.

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Covarrubias, a well-liked federal congressman, bolted from the PRD after Gov. Narciso Agundez passed over him as his choice for a successor.

"The people have spoken," Covarrubias said Monday, urging his opponents to concede.

Covarrubias found a new home in the PAN despite having previously railed against Calderon, whose disputed victory in 2006 was never recognized by many members of the PRD.

Despite the philosophical differences, the PAN was happy to accommodate Covarrubias to defeat the PRD and, more importantly, Mexico's former ruling party, the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

Returns showed Covarrubias leading with 40% of the vote. The PRI's Ricardo Barroso finished second, with 34%. Luis Armando Diaz, of the PRD, was in third place, with 21%.

The result also appeared to serve as a referendum on Agundez, the incumbent PRD governor, who some analysts had predicted might serve as a drag on his party's candidate due to lack of public support and other troubles, including fears of a growing role of drug traffickers in the state.

Covarrubias' defection was the latest instance of party-jumping and incongruous alliances as Mexico kicks off a year of statewide votes that will segue into a bigger contest: the 2012 presidential election.

The PAN and PRD, though political opposites, are eager to trip up the PRI, which hopes to retake the presidency after a string of wins in gubernatorial and congressional races since 2006.

The PRI, which ruled for 71 years until it was toppled by the PAN in 2000, leads early polls for president behind Enrique Peña Nieto, the photogenic governor of the central state of Mexico.

On Jan. 30, a PRD-led coalition won the governorship in the southern state of Guerrero behind a candidate who had defected from the PRI. Last year, the PAN and PRD teamed up to capture governorships in three states that had been held by the PRI.

The PAN and PRD head into a key election cycle with political weaknesses. No likely presidential candidate of national stature has emerged from Calderon's party, which has also been hurt by the country's soaring drug violence. The PRD is struggling to overcome internal strife.

In Baja California Sur, the PAN candidates won a majority in the state legislature and took one of five mayoralties in play, in Comondu. The PRD and PRI each took two, with Los Cabos going to the PRD.

Leo - 2-7-2011 at 08:28 PM

OK, but what does this mean for the 'mining' issue?

JESSE - 2-7-2011 at 09:29 PM

There was no change in goverment, the PRD simply took off their mask, switched to another, and stayed in power.

Its the very same people who have Baja sur in a mess.

flyfishinPam - 2-8-2011 at 07:52 AM

this election reminds me of the one that took place in Guerrero recently:


just sub PRD for PRI in the above cartone



gotta love political cartoons




shari - 2-8-2011 at 07:55 AM

Jesse, I am interested in your political prowess...what were you hoping for in this election and why? un nuevo rumbo? era posible?

flyfishinPam - 2-8-2011 at 07:58 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by shari
Jesse, I am interested in your political prowess...what were you hoping for in this election and why? un nuevo rumbo? era posible?


you don't read zeta de tijuana do you?

shari - 2-8-2011 at 08:01 AM

no I dont...fill me in Pam....I was surprised there hasnt been much comment here on the election results an am always interested in mexicanos take on things.

flyfishinPam - 2-8-2011 at 08:06 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by shari
no I dont...fill me in Pam....I was surprised there hasnt been much comment here on the election results an am always interested in mexicanos take on things.


here you go:
http://www.zetatijuana.com/html/EdicionActual/ZoomPolitico_E...

I used to subscribe and then almost canceled my subscription until TEO got busted then when Zeta implicated our gov it got REALLY interesting. so I kept my subscription until canceling it recently after one too many issues that made me feel hopeless. It is online articles are complete but no fancy fotos so I can read when I can.

flyfishinPam - 2-8-2011 at 08:13 AM

I am happy with the results for our new Loreto presidente, good guy businessman and hard worker not like the other manchurian candidates that ran against him who are only used to "collecting a paycheck". Interestingly enough on saturday (day before the election) the police detained 100's of vehicles with PRI stickers on them, maybe to dissuade from voting anyway my toyota spent the weekend in jail but our polling place is an easy walk away.

gnukid - 2-8-2011 at 10:06 AM

Strange detentions on Saturday evening in La Paz as well.

shari - 2-8-2011 at 10:20 AM

gracias Pam...interesting reading all right....what say you Gnu?

Skeet/Loreto - 2-8-2011 at 10:26 AM

Pam: Who won the Election in Loreto??
Which of the political Ladies will help him out??

Skeet

flyfishinPam - 2-8-2011 at 11:55 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
Pam: Who won the Election in Loreto??
Which of the political Ladies will help him out??

Skeet


Jorge Aviles Perez who will be the first non "Loretano" presidente (not born in Loreto or from a large Loreto family) although he's lived here for 30 years. It will be nice to see how someone from the "outside" works out and testament to the influence of new residents to Loreto that originate from other places. I worked with Jorge for a year several years back and this guy is definately NOT lazy he's a do-er. I voted for him because I personally saw (see) how hard he works and he's a small businessman as well.

JESSE - 2-8-2011 at 12:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by shari
Jesse, I am interested in your political prowess...what were you hoping for in this election and why? un nuevo rumbo? era posible?


Its very simple, theres a group of families and business men in southern baja, that have amassed millions working togheter using the goverment (PRD goverment) as a tool. These people are into everything, sort of like a mafia, they have stakes in hotels, transportation, drugs, illegal land grabs, everything!

Now, nationally, the leftist PRD has shown extremely poor results at governing the few states they had, and have lost almost everything to the PRI. The conservative PAN has also shown to be less than efficient at governing the nation, and slowly but surely started to lose ground to the PRI.

Since either the PRD or the PAN cannot win elections on their own because of their poor results, they decided to band togheter and do ANYTHING no matter what in order to stop the PRI advance. I personally consider this a disgrace and as an insult to democracy as i used to be a long time hard core PAN supporter. The PRD and the PAN share absolutely no ideologies, no views, no nothing, they are working togheter simply because they want to stop the PRI, and i personally consider the that a huge mistake.

To make the matters worse, they are banding togheter in opossition to the PRI, but since they don't have good candidates of their own, they are basically stealing candidates from the PRI.

Imagine republicans convincing strong democrat candidates to defect to the republican party just a few months before an election, just in order to win.

Ok so back here in Baja, the PRD has been an absulte nightmare, they steal everything without shame, they use the state goverment as their own private mafia corporation. Theres elections coming, they know they can´t win, so what do they do?

They design a strategy with their PAN buddies, they make people believe the southern baja PRD has split into two factions, one, the old corrupt one we know who have been running the state for the last 12 yrs, and the other, a new one supposedly fed up with corruption who wants things done differently. The new "clean" PRD faction then leaves the PRD, and joins the PAN, saying they are new and clean.

In reality, what they now have done, is split the opossition vote in half.

We now have two opossition parties, the PRI, and the PAN (filled with PRD people).

Election time comes, the PAN gets total support from the state goverment (off course since they are the same), and the PAN wins.

So whos elected into power?

The very same people that have been screwing us for 12 years. The only diference, is that they simply have switched logos and colors.

Masterful plan with great results for them.

Shameful and disgraceful manipulation of politics in order to keep power at any cost by two parties who cannot win based on thie own merits.

As a lifelong PAN supporter who walked side by side with my dad defending and electing the first non PRI governor in Baja 22 yrs ago, i am completely ashamed, angry, and dissapointed at what the PAN has turned into these past years.

The PAN, in time, is turning worse than the PRI, and that is a crying shame for those of us who believe and fought for ideologies and true beliefs. The party we fought for, has lost its way.

I now support the PRI, can you believe that, back to square one.

oldlady - 2-8-2011 at 12:11 PM

A friend of mine who was born and lived her entire llife in La Paz stopped by yesterday afternoon....I asked the same question; her response was identical to Jesse's (an I believe he is one of the few people in town she doesn't know).

Based on that, I'd say Jesse nailed it.

flyfishinPam - 2-8-2011 at 12:32 PM

one of my biology professors used to tell us "there's nothing more dangerous than an uninformed person in the voting booth" I was hoping Coppola would have run for the PAN but maybe its because he told me what I wanted to hear regarding keeping the dorado, marlin, sailfish, and roosterfish protected from the commercial fishing industry. that he didn't stand up and fight for the position disappoints me.

Loretana - 2-8-2011 at 03:05 PM

Jesse and Pam, thank you for your very enlightening posts.

shari - 2-8-2011 at 03:34 PM

thank you Jesse..I appreciate your take on things...so do you really think PRI would have been a nuevo rumbo?

JESSE - 2-8-2011 at 07:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by shari
thank you Jesse..I appreciate your take on things...so do you really think PRI would have been a nuevo rumbo?


Not sure, but at least the same scum that has been robbing us for years would have been gone.

BajaGringo - 2-8-2011 at 07:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JESSE
The PAN, in time, is turning worse than the PRI, and that is a crying shame for those of us who believe and fought for ideologies and true beliefs. The party we fought for, has lost its way.

I now support the PRI, can you believe that, back to square one.


I have heard the very same thing from many former PAN supporters here in our neck of the peninsula...

bajajazz - 2-8-2011 at 10:00 PM

This was not a normal election. I've owned here (La Paz) since '87 and have never seen anything like this before. The money spent on this election must be in the millions of dollars. That money came from somewhere and it came for a reason.

Gold mine? Lots of opportunities for graft there.
Casino gambling? Ditto.
Big push by Fonatur to do to BCS what it did to Cancun?

Something's up, the question is, what?

True, people are disillusioned with the PRD "workers' party," (they'll approve any weird project that creates some brick-laying jobs and offers an opportunity to ripoff permit fees) but that does not explain the enormous sums of money that poured into this election campaign from outside sources.

I believe the mayor's office in La Paz was won by the PRI's candidate, Esthela Ponce. I wonder if Jesse sees her election as a net-positive? I certainly hope so.

JESSE - 2-9-2011 at 12:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajajazz
I believe the mayor's office in La Paz was won by the PRI's candidate, Esthela Ponce. I wonder if Jesse sees her election as a net-positive? I certainly hope so.


Shes a good friend, a decent, honest, hard working woman that should run for governor next time.