09/19 shakes the uncovered PRI candidates

09/19 shakes the uncovered PRI candidates 

The earthquake on 09/19 has shaken the political board. We've been told the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), in particular, has a problem. The four aspiring candidate nominees uncovered by the coordinator of the PRI senators, Emilio Gamboa, are completely engrossed in the works of the Federal Government to address the emergency and reconstruction efforts. With thousands of schools pending inspections and at least 400 to be rebuilt in a 9-month period, a case scenario where the Secretary of Public Education, Aurelio Nuño , steps down from his charge, sounds a bit complicated. The case is no less problematic for the man in charge of the resources and budget control, the Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, José Antonio Meade . It's also a stretch to imagine that one of the men in charge of a considerable part of the national coordination efforts would also be able to step down, as is the case of the Secretary of the Interior, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong . And what can be said of Dr. José Narro , Secretary of Health...The term between the emergency and the eventual resignation of the four unveiled aspiring candidate nominees – who have November as their deadline – appears too constricting. For the conservative National Action Party (PAN) and the far- left National Regeneration Party (MORENA) , the case is very different, seeing that their favorite aspiring candidates are not currently holding any public charge. Margarita Zavala, Ricardo Anaya, and Rafael Moreno Valle can run without further inconveniences, while Andrés Manuel López Obrador – off the record – is already the presidential candidate of the MORENA party. The PRI will have to make a choice among one of the 4 unveiled candidates, or perhaps other secretaries who had been left out of the game will have the opportunity to return? It could be the case of Enrique de la Madrid, José Calzada or Eruviel Ávila.

The gap in the PAN widens

With all the attention focused on the emergency, the division within the National Action Party in the Senate – led by Fernando Herrera – has gone unnoticed. The so-called “rebel” senators are no longer five or six, but a dozen, we've been assured. Our sources say the “rebel” group of Senator Ernesto Cordero keeps growing, and among its ranks the following senators can be found: Roberto Gil, Luisa María Calderón, Juan Fernández, Mariana Gómez, Jorge Luis Lavalle, Javier Lozano, José María Martínez, Octavio Pedroza, Jesús Santana, Fernando Torres, and Salvador Vega. And it seems the group will keep adding more names to the list.

Ochoa Reza left out of the INE's schedule

Politicians have been very busy after the 09/19, so much so that even their schedules have turned hectic. The national leader of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party ( PRI ) Enrique Ochoa Reza , has complained that the president councilor of the National Electoral Institute ( INE ), Lorenzo Córdova , wasn't able to meet him this Monday. We're told Mr.Lorenzo was attending the ceremony that the Michoacán University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo held posthumously in honor of the professor Arnaldo Córdova – graduate from the Primitive and National College of San Nicolás de Hidalgo, and the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law of that same College. And, of course, the invitation of the president of the INE arrived months ago, and he had to travel to the state of Michoacán with resources from his own pockets. Our sources at the Institute say there was no meeting scheduled with any of the national leaders of any political party, not even a request for a meeting. Picture that!

Videgaray, in the first row

Talking about other political terrains, we're told the Senate factions have finally come out of the shock of the earthquake on 09/19. To start, the Political Coordination Meeting – led by the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) member, Ana Lilia Herrera – has agreed that the first one to be summoned, as part of the breakdown of the 5th State of the State Address, will be the Mexico's chancellor Luis Videgaray, followed by the Secretary of the Interior, Miguel Osorio Chong . Afterwards, they will summon the Secretary of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo , and the Secretary of Social Development, Luis Miranda . Our sources say they are only waiting to schedule the dates of the hearings and for the public officials to make their statements before the Senate. As you may remember, last year Osorio Chong was the only Secretary who wasn't summoned, firstly because the Senate postponed the date in two separate occasions, and then because there simply wasn't enough time.

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