A mixed record

Mexico's president

Sep 8th 2005 MEXICO CITY
From The Economist print edition

At least I'm no dictator, says Mr Fox

ANYONE who complains of the lack of civility in public discourse in the United States or Europe should visit the lower house of Mexico's Congress. There, each September 1st, the president gives his state-of-the-union address to a rowdy reception. This year, Vicente Fox gave his last such performance before next year's elections (in which he is not allowed to stand), and was interrupted by jeers and catcalls, and mocked by deputies in satirical costumes.

Mr Fox took office in 2000 amid high hopes. He was Mexico's first president from outside the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in decades. His slogan of cambio (change) resonated with a public sick of the PRI's venality. But in many respects change has remained just a slogan. Promised reforms of everything from education to energy have failed to materialise.

The president blames it all on Congress. He argues, lamely, that his failure to impose his will on congressmen at least shows he is a democrat, not a dictator. In truth he and his conservative National Action Party (PAN), which lacks a congressional majority, have proved bad at forming a consensus with either the PRI or the leftish Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Even when the parties have agreed that reforms were needed, progress has been blocked out of sheer pique. The PRI blocked a PAN energy proposal in 1999, so when the PRI proposed an almost identical plan in 2001, the PAN blocked it. This childishness was repeated on September 3rd, when Mr Fox vetoed a similar energy bill, which had passed Congress in June.

Despite such failings, Mr Fox seems to have regained popularity since abandoning his ill-advised attempt, earlier this year, to block the presidential candidacy of the PRD's Andrés Manuel López Obrador—which only boosted Mr López Obrador's chances. A poll last month by Consulta Mitofsky put Mr Fox's approval rating at nearly 60%, though only 15% of respondents approved of his handling of Congress. He has had some successes, most notably in improving openness in government and in developing Oportunidades, a welfare programme that now covers nearly a quarter of the population.

Perhaps the main reason for his improved popularity is that the economy, formerly sluggish, is now ticking along nicely, with high oil prices boosting the revenues of Pemex, the state oil company, which provides around one-third of federal revenues. A more prudent president might have used this windfall to improve Mexico's infrastructure and lay the foundations for future growth. Instead, most has gone on increased current spending, though in the 2006 budget that Mr Fox unveiled on September 6th, spending will be trimmed by around 6% in real terms.

Traditionally, the last years of Mexican presidents' terms have seen economic crises, brought on by pre-election spending binges. Mr Fox seems serious about avoiding such an occurrence on his watch. So, in both good ways and bad, he seems set to be remembered as much for what he has not done, as for what he has.

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