Now that the elections for leadership of the National Action Party (PAN) have been held, it is up to the left-leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) to hold elections to determine its leadership. Such elections will take place during a difficult time for the PRD, given that the various factions that comprise this party are, at present, greatly divided. More than a political party, the PRD is a movement of different ideologies and tendencies. The elections will be held during the first days of September. In accordance with Mexican electoral rules, the National Electoral Institute is responsible for the organization of internal party elections, which is reassuring and inspires confidence and certainty in the electoral process. Nevertheless, it is highly likely that the election will expose conflicts within the PRD. One of its factions is completely against the PRD’s participation in the Pact for Mexico created and led by the administration of President Peña Nieto. This is the program that allowed Mexican lawmakers to move forward with groundbreaking legislation and constitutional reforms on energy and telecommunications. Such reforms will facilitate a new age for the Mexican economy, where parties other than PEMEX and the Federal Electricity Commission (Comisión Federal de Electricidad, CFE) and TELMEX/TELCEL will be allowed to participate by investing in the energy and telecommunications fields, both of which require new investment and growth. As a consequence of the energy reform, the PRD has announced that it will lead a protest calling for the defense of sovereignty represented in Mexico’s hydrocarbon resources and reserves. Given that so many groups and factions make up the Mexican left wing, references to the left as “tribes” is common in Mexico. The strategies for engaging in protests are as varied as the many groups that make up the left wing of Mexico’s political spectrum. The departure of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a known leftist leader, and the exodus from the PRD that resulted from his departure and creation of the National Renewal Movement (Movimiento de Renovación Nacional, MORENA), was a hard hit for the PRD at a critical time when it is about to renew its leadership. Nevertheless, a faithful, passionate and united PRD is healthy for Mexican politics in order to ensure the balancing of different ideologies and tendencies in a country as diverse as Mexico.
