The intense election rivalry between the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Citizens Movement (MC) has turned ugly in recent weeks, as both sides look for ways to discredit the other.
Rather than talk about policies and programs, the parties seem more interested in digging up dirt on their rivals, sometimes with the help of eager investigative journalists.
One of the chief targets has been Enrique Alfaro, the MC’s candidate for Guadalajara mayor and the current frontrunner.
After a drone allegedly hired by the PRI buzzed his home presumably searching for anything amiss in his private life, this week Alfaro was accused of violating construction regulations by extending his property into a neighboring grassland area that it is forbidden to build on. Zapopan city hall – run by the PRI – was only too happy to take up the gauntlet and has ordered Alfaro to attend an appointment to explain the potential anomaly.
In another much publicized attack, MC congressional candidate Carlos Lomeli has been called out by the PRI for his “criminal record,” following revelations that he was arrested in 2002 for the illegal possession of a firearm. Lomeli insists he was cleared of any charge, but the PRI’s offensive didn’t stop there. Next, they produced evidence that Lomeli was renting a property to Jose Luis Gomez Quiñones, the former director of Jalisco’s Seguro Popular, who in February was issued with an arrest warrant for the alleged mismanagement of the health care program’s funds – in other words, harboring a fugitive. Cue Gomez to appear before the media the next day, brandishing documents proving that he had willingly given himself up and provided testimony to investigators, after which authorities decided not to follow through with the arrest order.
The PRI, who are behind in the polls, have a long history of throwing such low blows, yet the MC is not averse to hitting back when the opportunity arises.
Leonel Sandoval, the father of current PRI governor Aristoteles Sandoval, was exonerated of any wrongdoing after a recording emerged showing him allegedly promoting illegal tactics in the run-up to the election. Nonetheless, the MC is pushing ahead with a criminal complaint and clearly does not want the issue to lie down.
Remarkably, Sandoval, who responded to the tape’s release by promising to stay out of the election, was this week chosen by party leaders to rally support for the campaign of Ricardo Villanueva, the PRI candidate for Guadalajara mayor.
Perhaps the oddest occurrence this week that had conspiracy theorists wondering if subterfuge was not afoot, was the surprise appearance of a group of male strippers at a Mother’s Day celebration in Tlajomulco attended by a group of PRI candidates who had addressed the audience moments earlier. The images published online caused red faces, while PRI sympathizers noted that Tlajomulco is an MC stronghold. Coincidence?