MEXICO'S PRD PLAGUED AGAIN BY INTERNAL DISPUTES IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 000990

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR MX
SUBJECT: MEXICO'S PRD PLAGUED AGAIN BY INTERNAL DISPUTES IN
MIDTERM CANDIDATE SELECTIONS

REF: MEXICO 0603

Classified By: Pol MinCouns Charles V. Barclay. Reasons: 1.4 (b and d)
.



1. (C) Summary: Mexico's Democratic Revolution Party (PRD)
plunged into internal discord once again, this time over the
selection of candidates over the past two weeks for upcoming
midterm elections. Both internal elections in select areas
of the country and selections by the National Executive
Council for the rest of the party's slate of legislative
candidates were tarnished by allegations of voting
irregularities, favoritism and broken promises. The movement
of former party standard bearer Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
has yet to coalesce into a viable alternative, and supporters
of Mexico City Mayor Marcel Ebrard did not fare well. PRD
Party President Jesus Ortega tried to minimize the negative
impact of the selection process, but the back to back
spectacles most likely further damaged electoral prospects of
the PRD come July. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Bitter infighting that undermined Mexico's
Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) most of last year erupted
again during internal elections March 15 in Zacatecas, the
State of Mexico and Mexico City. The elections were held to
identify the party's candidates for 53 federal deputy slots
and other candidates including mayors, borough chief
positions in Mexico City, and members of local assemblies.
Allegations included burned ballots, ballot box theft, vote
buying, inflated voting lists and out-of-state voters. The
two main factions, the moderate New Left and radical United
Left, traded bitter accusations against each other. One
interesting outcome of the process: supporters of Andres
Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) and the National Democratic Left
(IDN) represented by party power broker Rene Bejarano fared
better in Mexico City than candidates who supported Mayor
Marcel Ebrard. PRD President Jesus Ortega tried to put his
best face forward, minimizing the turmoil and characterizing
the races as legitimate, but the headlines showed once again
a party in disarray.


3. (SBU) On the heels of primaries in select areas, the
National Executive Council of the PRD then released March 30
its plurinominal choices, as well as the selection of the
remainder of its district candidates after a fractious
decision-making process the preceding weekend. 200 of the
500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies in the July 5 midterm
elections are allotted via a proportional representation
system known as the "plurinominal". Recognition that the PRD
would not likely get more than 20 percent of the vote set off
an internal struggle to decide the first 40 places on the
ticket -- those most likely to be filled. Former national
PRD leader Leonel Cota (displaced during last year's
acrimonious leadership battles) renounced his candidacy and
threatened to leave the party, accusing Ortega of breaking a
promise to put him first on the list. Cota and others also
complained that current party leadership skipped over United
Left contenders in favor of outsiders, engaged in nepotism
and rewarded renegade Worker Party (PT) members who switched
allegiances in recent weeks. Despite the noisy acrimony,
Ortega claimed the worst was behind the party and dismissed
the claims of nepotism, saying the selection process worked
better than the disputed internal elections the week earlier.


4. (C) Comment: Problems in both the election and selection
of PRD candidates for the midterm elections came as no
surprise. Last year, allegations of fraud in the election
for PRD president resulted in a protracted dispute that
nearly split the party. All party factions are likely to
suffer this time around, particularly as they fight for the
allegiances of smaller party members. PRD insider
Marycarmen Soria told Poloff that Ortega's quest to woo
members from Convergencia and PT to PRD ranks in return for
favored positions at the expense of party loyalists would
cost the party as newcomers vie with longtime members. AMLO
seems to be faring no better in his quasi-independent status.
He currently is splitting his support among PRD candidates
in Mexico City and Morelos, while pitching for Convergencia
and PT candidates in Veracruz, Chiapas and Oaxaca. The
strategy has dissipated his energy and resources, say
observers. Noisy debate within the party may have prevented

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the PRD from picking up some of the voters that the
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) evidently has lost in
recent weeks. The PRD selection process has only further
undermined voter confidence in the PRD and its prospects in
the July midterm elections. End Comment.

Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American
Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap /
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