|
Mexico Minor Opposition Parties
In 1954 dissident members of the PRI established the Authentic Party of the Mexican Revolution (Partido Auténtico de la Revolución Mexicana--PARM). Its political platform, which is based on the principles of the Mexican Revolution and the constitution of 1917, is strongly nationalistic. The PARM has a limited role in national politics, although it was able to maintain its electoral registration status as well as its minority representation in the lower chamber until the 1994 elections, when it received less than 0.5 percent of the vote. The PARM temporarily joined the FDN during the 1988 elections but broke with the party coalition in 1989.
The Popular Socialist Party (Partido Popular Socialista--PPS) was first organized in 1948 by a radical sector of the PRI led by Vicente Lombardo Toledano, the founder of the PRI's labor organization. Despite the PPS's Marxist orientation, its membership has traditionally supported the official party's candidate in presidential elections, while working closely with the PRI in most initiatives dealing with the expansion of the government's role in the economy. In 1988, however, the PPS broke with tradition and joined the FDN in support of Cárdenas's presidential bid. The PPS fielded its own candidate, Marcela Lombardo Otero, in the 1994 presidential election. Otero received 0.46 percent of the total vote.
The Cárdenas Front of the National Reconstruction Party (Partido del Frente Cardenista de Reconstrucción Nacional--PFCRN), formerly the Socialist Workers' Party, was established in 1973 with labor support. It traditionally had worked closely with the PRI, but joined the FDN in supporting the candidacy of Cárdenas in 1988. The PFCRN ran its own candidate, Rafael Aguilar Talamantes, in the 1994 presidential race, receiving 0.77 percent of the vote.
Other small political parties that registered for the 1994 presidential election included the Mexican Green Ecologist Party (Partido Verde Ecologista Mexicano--PVEM), the Labor Party (Partido del Trabajo--PT), and the National Opposition Union (Unión Nacional Opositora--UNO). Support for the PT and the PVEM is found predominantly in urban areas. The PT operates mainly in the Federal District, where it made a surprisingly strong showing in 1994.
Of the six small political parties that participated in the 1994 elections (PARM, PFCRN, PPS, PT, PVEM, and UNO), only the PT and its candidate, Cecilia Soto González, received more than 3 percent of the vote. Under current electoral law, the PT is the only minor party that may legally contest the next presidential election in 2000.
Institutions of Civil Society
Data as of June 1996
|
