How Best to Honor Colosio’s Memory : Let tragedy lead to Mexican political reform

Can some good come of a tragedy? While utterly lamentable, the assassination of Mexico’s leading presidential candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio, also offers that nation’s most potent political force, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), an opportunity. PRI leaders, especially Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, would honor their slain standard-bearer if they seized it.

Colosio was respected as a capable public official, but the way he got the PRI nomination was controversial. He was handpicked by Salinas under an old political tradition that Mexicans refer to as el Dedazo, which means to be touched by a very large finger. The term refers to Mexican presidents personally selecting their successors, a practice that dates from the PRI’s founding in 1929.

El Dedazo has been tantamount to being elected as Mexico’s president: The PRI is the best-organized political party in Mexico, and the many government officials who are PRI members, including the sitting president, did not hesitate to use their power to help Colosio’s campaign. That is why Colosio was conceded to be the front runner in the campaign for the Aug. 21 election. But it was a grudging concession among the many Mexicans who believe their nation is too modern and sophisticated to be burdened with hoary political traditions from the ‘20s.

Even official PRI candidate Colosio spoke of the need to make the electoral system more open and democratic. When he served as PRI president in the late 1980s, he even experimented with primary elections in which PRI candidates ran against each other for party nominations.

That suggests an idea. Salinas is expected to wait until after Easter to pick a second PRI nominee. Before he does, he should heed the suggestions of Mexican intellectuals like writer Carlos Fuentes who are urging him to open up the nomination process. Precisely how that is done--through a primary vote or open PRI convention--is up to party leaders. It might require delaying the election, a move that would require approval by the Mexican Congress. But Salinas can get the process moving simply by lifting an eyebrow. He could create a wide-open presidential race in which several respected PRI members could contend for the nomination. Besides the often-mentioned former Mexico City Mayor Manuel Camacho Solis, Finance Minister Pedro Aspe and former Education Minister Ernesto Zedillo would be formidable candidates.

No doubt there are other, less well-known political leaders who would be worthy successors to Salinas. An open, democratic process leading to the election of any of them would be a fitting tribute to Colosio.