Institutional Revolutionary Party

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Institucional or PRI) is a Mexican political party that wielded hegemonic power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years.

The party was the result of Plutarco Elías Calles's efforts to stop the violent struggle for power between the victorious factions of the Mexican Revolution, and guarantee the peaceful if not democratic transmission of power for members of the party. Opponents, academics, and historians claim with ample evidence that elections were just a ritual to simulate the appearance of a democracy.

They also claim that electoral fraud, with voter suppression and violence, was used when the political machine did not work. However, opposing parties now make the same claim against each other (PRD against Fox's PAN and PAN vs. López Obrador's PRD, for example), even though the scale of corruption is almost incomparable.

In 1990 Peruvian-born Spanish right-wing writer Mario Vargas Llosa called the government under the PRI la dictadura perfecta ("The perfect dictatorship"). In the year 2000, the PRI lost the presidency of Mexico for the first time.

Despite being an authoritarian neo-liberal party, the PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival PRD, making Mexico one of the few nations with two major, competing parties part of the same international grouping.

Profile

The party, under its three different names, held every major political position for six decades. Only the occasional federal deputy or senator from other parties ever got elected, and the first state governor not to originate from its ranks was not elected until 1989 (Ernesto Ruffo Appel of the PAN in Baja California).

The party had acquired a reputation for dishonesty, and while this was admitted (to a degree) by some of its affiliates, its supporters maintained that the role of the party was crucial in the modernization and stabilization of Mexico. The party was described by some scholars as a "state party", a term which captures both the non-competitive history and character of the party itself, and the inextricable connection between the party and the Mexican state for much of the 20th century. More satirically, the party was also described as the "Ministry for Elections" by the Zapatistas.

Lázaro Cárdenas, perhaps Mexico's most-popular 20th-century president and most renowned for expropriating the oil interests of United States and European petroleum companies in the run-up to World War II, came from the ranks of the PRI. He was a person of leftist ideas who nationalized different industries and provided many social institutions which are dear to the Mexican people. Two other PRI presidents, loved by some and despised by many, Miguel de la Madrid and Carlos Salinas de Gortari privatised many outmoded industries, including banks and roads, and also negotiated NAFTA.

The PRI was heavily criticized for using the colors of the national flag in its logo, something considered not unreasonable in many countries, but frowned upon in Mexico. While there has been no law passed to forbid this act, the PRI has been criticised for this.

The importance of the PRI in Mexican politics should not be underestimated: many top politicians in other parties (most notably PRD's Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas) come from its ranks, as well as state governors (usually PRI members who left the party after losing the gubernatorial candidacy, only to be picked up by an opposing party and go on to win the election).

2000 general elections

In the presidential elections of 2 July 2000, its candidate Francisco Labastida Ochoa won 36.1 % of the popular vote and was defeated by Vicente Fox. It was to the first electoral defeat of the PRI. Many considered that this event would mark the party's downfall. In the senatorial elections of the same date, the party won with 38.1%, or 51 out of 128 seats in the Senate of Mexico.

Yet, after much restructuring, the party has been able to make an impressive recovery, winning the greatest number of seats (almost the majority) in Congress in 2003: at these elections, the party won 224 out of 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. It also won several state governorships in the 2004 elections and the election to choose the governor of the most populous state (Estado de México in 2005). Some analysts even considered that if the party managed to stay united in nominating one single candidate for the 2006 presidential election, the PRI might have been able to recoup the presidency. However, selection of the candidate was tainted by vicious attacks from Roberto Madrazo to Arturo Montiel, former governor of the State of Mexico; Madrazo was appointed candidate after Montiel withdrew from the selection process. Madrazo then went on to lead an ineffective campaign and in the Mexican general election, 2006, he has no realistic chance of winning, with around 21% of the votes, compared to over 35% for the two leading candidates, Felipe Calderón and Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Recent history

[[Image:State governments by party.PNG|thumb|right|300px|State governments by party (as of 2005-2006)]]In recent years the following have been key events in the history of the PRI:
* 1988: Amidst stronger than ever suspicions of electoral fraud, Carlos Salinas de Gortari won the presidential election.
* 1994: For the first time in decades a high profile politician was murdered: PRI presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was shot during a campaign event. His campaign director, Ernesto Zedillo, was subsequently elected in the first presidential election monitored by international observers.
* 2000: For the first time since its inception, the PRI lost the presidency to an opposition candidate, Vicente Fox Quesada of the PAN (National Action Party).
* 2003: In midterm elections, the PRI was practically wiped off the map in the Federal District – only one borough mayor (jefe delegacional) out of 16, and no first-past-the-post members of the city assembly – but recouped some significant losses on the state level (most notably, the governorship of former PAN stronghold Nuevo León). It also remained the largest single party in both the Chamber of Deputies and Senate.
* 2004: On August 6, in two controversial and closely-contested elections in Oaxaca and Tijuana, PRI candidates Ulises Ruiz Ortiz and Jorge Hank Rhon won the races for the governorship and municipal presidency respectively. The PAN had held control of the president's office of the municipality of Tijuana for 15 years.
* 2005: Six out of eight gubernatorial elections held during the year are won by the PRI: Quintana Roo, Hidalgo, Colima, Estado de México, Nayarit, and Coahuila. The PRI will now control all the states on the country's northern border with the US except for Baja California. Candidate Roberto Madrazo has been elected for the presidential elections in 2006, also representing the Partido Verde Ecologista de México (PVEM: Ecologist Green Party of Mexico)
* 2006: PRI presidential candidate Madrazo lost the election to an opposition party candidate. The winner, either the PAN or PRD candidate, will be announced in coming days.