The political composition of the Hidalgo State Congress, the Federal District Legislative Assembly, and the Federal Chamber of Deputies and Senate; whether state governors in Mexico are representatives of the party with the majority or whether they are directly elected by vote in a separate process (July 2000) [MEX35035.E]

In a 26 July 2000 telephone interview, the private secretary of the general coordinator of the Hidalgo State Congress (Congreso Local del Estado de Hidalgo) in Pachuca stated that there is a total of 29 seats in the Hidalgo legislature. The seats are divided among the following political parties: the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), 18; the National Action Party (PAN), 7; the Party for the Democratic Revolution (PRD), 3; and the Labour Party (PT), 1. The last state election in Hidalgo took place in February 1999 and the legislators were elected for a three-year term.

A Mexico elections' Website states that official results for the last federal elections are not yet available (July 2000). However, the Website of the Mexican Embassy in Canada provided preliminary results of the 2 July 2000 elections (July 2000). The results are based on the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE)'s count of 100 per cent of votes cast in 300 electoral Mexican districts, which represents 63.5 per cent of the electorate (ibid.). The results, which are attached to this Response, include those of the presidential race, the federal Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, the mayoral race in the Federal District , as well as the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District.

The IFE Website states that the current representatives in the federal Chamber of Deputies and the Senate were elected during the 6 July 1997 elections and that their terms will end on 1 September 2000 when the terms of the new representatives elected on 2 July 2000 begin (2000). The Website provides the following breakdown of the Chamber: PAN, 121 seats; PRI, 239 seats; PRD, 125 seats; PT, 7 seats; and Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM), 8 seats for a total of 500 seats (2000). For the same period, the Senate's party representation is as follows: PAN, 33 seats; PRI, 78 seats; PRD, 15 seats; PT, 1 seat; and PVEM, 1 seat for a total of 128 seats (ibid.).

The Website for Legislative Assembly of the Federal District provides a list of deputies with seats in the Assembly for the period of July 1997 to July 2000 (2000). It states that 38 deputies are from the PRD, 10 from the PRI, 10 from the PAN, 3 from the PVEM, 2 from the PT, 1 independent and 1 with an unknown affiliation (2000).

With reference to how state governors in Mexico are elected, the private secretary of the general coordinator of the Hidalgo State Congress stated that all state governors in the country are directly elected by the electorate in a separate process (26 July 2000). Therefore, it is possible that the majority of seats in a state congress belong to one party, while the governor is from another one (ibid.). Additional and/or corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References


Asamblea Legislativa del Distrito Federal. 2000. "Diputados." http://www.asamblea.gob.mx/diputados/lista_diputados.html [Accessed 25 July 2000]

Congreso Local del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca. 26 July 2000. Telephone interview with the private secretary of the general coordinator.

Elections Around the World. July 2000. "Elections in Mexico." http://www.agora.stm.it/elections/election/mexico.htm [Accessed 26 July 2000]

Embassy of Mexico in Canada. 2000. "Mexican Elections: Preliminary Results of the July 2, 2000, Elections." http://www.embamcan.com/english/indexenglish.html [Accessed 26 July 2000]

Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE). 2000. "Respuesta a 25 Preguntas Esenciales." http://www.ife.org.mx/wwwife/25pregu2.htm [Accessed 26 July 2000]

Attachment


Embassy of Mexico in Canada. 2000. "Mexican Elections: Preliminary Results of the July 2, 2000, Elections." http://www.embamcan.com/english/indexenglish.html [Accessed 26 July 2000]