(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The vast majority of people in Mexico oppose an initiative by two opposition groups to block legislative sessions, according to a poll by Parametría. 70 per cent of respondents disagree with the Broad Progressive Front (FAP) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) shutting down Congress.

Mexican voters chose their new president in July 2006. Official results placed Felipe Calderón of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) as the winner with 36.68 per cent of all cast ballots, followed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the PRD with 36.11 per cent. Calderón—a former energy secretary—took over as Mexico’s head of state in December. López Obrador has never accepted the outcome of the election, and to this day refers to himself as Mexico’s "legitimate president."

In the July 2006 legislative election, the PAN secured 206 seats in the 500-member Chamber of Deputies, followed by a PRD-led alliance with 160 lawmakers, and a coalition of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Green Environmentalist Party (PVEM) with 121 mandates.

Calderón’s administration is trying to introduce legislation that would allow foreign investors to participate in state-owned oil company Pemex. López Obrador, the PRD and the FAP fiercely oppose the bill, claiming it is the beginning of a process that would lead to Pemex’s privatization. The PRI has expressed "conditional support" for the proposal.

In mid-April, PRD and FAP lawmakers staged a two-week protest against the bill, with several lawmakers blocking the entrance to the congressional building.

On Apr. 25, PAN and PRI leaders agreed to allow for a broader debate on the proposed reforms, effectively ending the opposition’s protests. PRD lawmaker Carlos Navarrete declared: "Today we are concluding a successful stage in the movement. We prevented a fast-track approval of the proposals. (...) We were able to get them to accept our proposal for a national debate."

Polling Data

Do you agree or disagree with the decision of members of the Broad Progressive Front (FAP) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) to shut down Congress?

Source: Parametría
Methodology: Interviews with 600 Mexican adults, conducted on Apr. 20 and Apr. 30, 2008. Margin of error is 4 per cent.

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