Longer-term Impact of the Alliances

Ricardo Pascoe Pierce thinks that the PAN-PRD coalitions could have a positive impact beyond the mere electoral calculations:

It's possible to think that if the PRD had agreed to participate in Fox's coalition government, the political transition could have taken a decisive step, instead of having come apart because of the insecurity of the minority PAN and the lack of a clear agenda for democratization. Although this is a past episode, it reflects the rigidity of anti-democratic thought that has, generally speaking, permeated the leadership of the PRD. This doesn't excuse the PAN, but you we must remember that Fox offered the PRD the possibility of participating in his cabinet, which, I believe, would have permitted the creation of a much more solid transitional political project. In fact, the presence advance of the PRI is the product of the lack of that credible and legitimate transition. Both the PAN and the PRD are responsible, equally so, for the advance of the old regime. It's from that responsibility that the present coalitions that we have seen in recent state elections emerged. As such, the coalitions have a political origin, without a doubt, but also an electoral interest. It's a process of democratization that requires a liberal and cooperative mindset, under which the extremes inside the PRD and the PAN are isolated. What is next is a process of dialogue that should last until 2012. And it should install a new type of dialogue between forces, where the areas of agreement over the ethics of democratic politics will count more than the discrepancies regarding political doctrines.