Politics of Mexico - Political Parties

Political Parties

Constitutionally, political parties in Mexico must promote the participation of the people in the democratic life of the country, contribute in the representation of the nation and citizens, and be the access through which citizens can participate in public office, through whatever programs, principles and ideals they postulate. All political parties must be registered before the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), the institution in charge of organizing and overseeing the federal electoral processes, but must obtain at least 2% of votes in the federal elections to keep their registry. Registered political parties receive public funding for their operation and can also obtain private funding within the limits prescribed by the law. As of 2010 the following political parties are registered before the IFE and all have representatives at the Congress of the Union:

• Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI), founded in 1929;
• National Action Party (Partido Acción Nacional, PAN), founded in 1939;
• Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolución Democrática, PRD), founded in 1989;
• Labor Party (Partido del Trabajo, PT), founded in 1990;
• Green Ecological Party (Partido Verde Ecologista de México, PVEM), founded in 1986, but lost its registry on two consecutive elections; it has retained its registry since 1993;
• Convergence Party (Convergencia, CV), founded in 1997;
• New Alliance (Nueva Alianza, PNA or PANAL), founded in 2005;

Political parties are allowed to form alliances or coalitions to nominate candidates for any particular election. The coalition must present itself with a particular name and logo. Proportional representation (plurinominal) seats are assigned to the coalition based on the percentage of votes obtained in the elections, and then the coalition re-assigns them to the constituent political parties. Once each party in the coalition has been assigned plurinominal seats, they do not necessarily continue to work as a coalition in government.

Throughout the 20th century, PRI had an almost hegemonic power at the state and federal level, which slowly began to recede in the late 1980s. Even though since the 1940s, PAN had won a couple of seats in the Congress, and in 1947 the first presidential municipality (in Quiroga, Michoacán), it wasn't until 1989, that the first non-PRI governor of a state was elected (at Baja California). It was in 1997, that PRI lost its absolute majority at the Congress of the Union, and in 2000 the first non-PRI president was elected since 1929.