What to expect if the PRI wins the Mexican presidency?

What to expect if the PRI wins the Mexican presidency? This is a question that has been raised since the federal campaign started several weeks ago. 

This fear seems legitimate observing what the PRI did while it was in power for around seventy years (1929-2000): human rights violations against political opponents, recurrent economic crises due to populist policies, cooptation of the media, etc. Some people might defend the candidacy of Enrique Peña Nieto stating that his party was the one that undertook the first set of structural reforms to step out of the crisis in the 80’s, that it passed the electoral reforms and also that recognized its defeat in the federal elections of 2000 and 2006. In sum, that the PRI is a new party. However, governors of the PRI behave like they are living 40 years ago: endemic corruption, huge increases in the debt, accusation of receiving millions of dollars in bribes from drug gangs, crushing of the opposition and manipulation of local elections, or just mere incompetence.

It is also noticeable Televisa’s, Mexico’s main media network, and some editorial groups’ preference for Enrique Peña Nieto over the rest of the candidates; which resembles a lot to the former partisan news programs like “24 hours”. The coverage of the news is so partial that “El Sol de México”, a newspaper group, even labeled the candidate’s visit to a private University as a triumph, when in reality he was severely questioned and even chased off the premises.

Despite the fact that he has compromised to undertake the structural reforms necessary to achieve economic growth of 6 percent, representatives in the Congress associated with him blocked the labor reform. In addition, Romero Deschamps, PEMEX union chief, and Elba Esther Gordillo, Education union chief, are allies in Peña’s candidacy, and are two of the fiercest critics of transparency in trade unions and reforms in the education and energy sectors. How is he going to get those reforms approved when his allies would be affected by those changes?

It is difficult to expect that the PRI will not behave like in the past, when in the last twelve years has blocked necessary reforms and has supported questionable governments in the state level.