President of Mexico
Encyclopedia
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state
and government
of Mexico
. Under the Constitution
, the president is also the Supreme Commander
of the Mexican armed forces. The current President is Felipe Calderón
.
Currently, the office of the President is considered to be revolutionary, in that it is the inheritor of the Mexican Revolution
and the powers of office are derived from the Revolutionary Constitution of 1917. Another legacy of the Revolution is its ban on re-election. Mexican presidents are limited to a single six-year term, called a sexenio. No one who has held the post, even on a caretaker basis, is allowed to run or serve again. The constitution and the office of the President closely follow the presidential system
of government.
deals with the executive branch of government
and sets forth the powers of the president, as well as the qualifications for the office. He is vested with the "supreme executive power of the Union."
To be eligible to run for president, the following requirements must be met:
The president is elected by direct, popular, universal suffrage. Whoever wins a simple plurality of the national vote is elected; there is no runoff election. Former President Vicente Fox
was elected with a plurality of 43% of the popular vote, Ernesto Zedillo
won 48% of the vote, and his predecessor Carlos Salinas
won with a majority of 50%. The current President, Felipe Calderón
, won with 36.38% of the votes in the 2006 general election
, finishing only 0.56 percent above his nearest rival, Andrés Manuel López Obrador
(who contested the official results
).
The History of Mexico
has not been a peaceful one. After the fall of dictator Porfirio Díaz
in 1910 because of the Mexican Revolution
, there was no stable government until 1929, when all the revolutionary leaders united in one political party: the National Revolutionary Party, which later changed its name to the Party of the Mexican Revolution, and is now the Institutional Revolutionary Party
. From then until 1988, the PRI ruled Mexico as a virtual one-party state.
Toward the end of his term, the incumbent president in consultation with party leaders, selected the PRI's candidate in the next election in a procedure known as "the tap of the finger" . Until 1988, the PRI's candidate was virtually assured of election, winning by margins well over 70 percent of the vote—results that were usually obtained by massive electoral fraud
. In 1988, however, the PRI ruptured and the dissidents formed the National Democratic Front
with rival center-left parties (now the PRD
). Discontent with the PRI, and the popularity of the Front's candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
led to worries that PRI candidate Carlos Salinas de Gortari would not come close to a majority, and might actually be defeated. While the votes were being counted, the tabulation system mysteriously shut down. The government declared Salinas the winner, leading to stronger than ever allegations of electoral fraud.
The PRI enacted a strict internal discipline and government presence in the country, and electoral fraud became common. After the country regained its peace this pattern of fraud continued, with the opposition losing every election until the later part of the 20th century. The first presidential election broadly considered legitimate was the one held in 1994, when the PRI's Ernesto Zedillo
took office, and in his term several reforms were enacted to ensure fairness and transparency in elections. Partly as a consequence of these reforms, the 1997 federal congressional election saw the first opposition Chamber of Deputies
ever, and the 2000 elections
saw Vicente Fox
of a PAN
/PVEM alliance become the first opposition candidate to win an election since 1911. This historical defeat was accepted on election night by PRI in the voice of President Zedillo; while this calmed fears of violence, it also fueled questions about the role of the president in the electoral process and to whom the responsibility of conceding defeat should fall in a democratic election.
The role of unions in the new balance of power and future elections is documented in works like historian
Enrique Krauze
's Analysis of the Corporative System.
while giving the president wider powers than his American counterpart
. However, this has only recently become the case in practice.
For the first 71 years after the enactment of the 1917 Constitution, the president exercised nearly absolute control over the country. Much of this power came from the de facto monopoly status of the PRI. As mentioned above, he effectively chose his successor as president by personally nominating the PRI's candidate in the next election. In addition, the unwritten rules of the PRI allowed him to designate party officials and candidates all the way down to the local level. He thus had an important (but not exclusive) influence over the political life of the country (part of his power had to be shared with unions and other groups, but as an individual he had no peers). This, and his constitutional powers, made some political commentators describe the president as a six-year dictator, and to call this system "Imperial Presidency". This power reached its peak around the early 1980s, when a grave economic crisis created discomfort both in the population and inside the party, and the president's power was no longer absolute but still impressive.
An important characteristic of this system is that the new president was effectively chosen by the old one (since the PRI candidate was assured of election) but once he assumed power, the old one lost all power and influence ("no reelection" is a cornerstone of Mexican politics). In fact, tradition called for the incumbent president to fade into the background immediately after the election of his successor. This renewed command helped maintain party discipline and avoided the stagnation associated with a single man holding power for decades, prompting Peru
vian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa
to call Mexico's political system "the perfect dictatorship," since the president's powers were cloaked by democratic practice.
With the democratic reforms of recent years and fairer elections, the president's powers have been limited in fact as well as in name. Vargas Llosa, during the Fox administration, called this new system "The Imperfect Democracy". His current powers and rights include the following:
A decree is a legislative instrument that has an expiration date and that is issued by one of the three branches of government. Congress may issue decrees, and the President may issue decrees as well. However, they have all the power of laws, but cannot be changed except by the power that issued them. Decrees are very limited in their extent. One such decree is the federal budget, which is issued by congress. The president's office may suggest a budget, but at the end of the day, it is congress that decrees how to collect taxes and how to spend them. A Supreme Court ruling on Vicente Fox's veto of the 2004 budget suggests that the President may have the right to veto decrees from Congress.
Since 1997, the Congress has been plural, usually with opposition parties having a majority. Major reforms (tax, energy) have to pass by Congress, and the ruling President usually found his efforts blocked: the PRI's Zedillo by opposing PAN/PRD congressmen, and later the PAN's Fox by the PRI and PRD. The PAN would push the reforms it denied to the PRI and viceversa. This situation, novel in a country where Congress was +90% dominated by the president's party for most of the century, has led to a legal analysis of the president's power. Formerly almost a dictator (because of PRI's party discipline), the current times show the president's power as somewhat limited. In 2004, President Fox
threatened to veto the budget approved by Congress, claiming the budget overstepped his authority to lead the country, only to learn no branch of government had the power to veto a decree issued by another branch of government (although a different, non jurisprudence
-setting ruling stated he could return the budget with observations).
Translation:
has the colors of the Mexican flag
in three bands of equal width, with red on top, white in the center, and green on the bottom, worn from right shoulder to left waist; it also includes the National Seal, in gold thread, to be worn chest-high. During the swearing-in ceremony of a newly elected President, the outgoing President turns in the sash to the current President of Congress, who in turn gives it to the new President after the latter has sworn the oath of office. The sash is the symbol of the Executive Federal Power, and can only be worn by the President.
According to Article 35 of the Law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthem
, the President must wear the sash at the swearing-in ceremony, when he makes his annual State of the Union report to Congress, during the commemoration of the Grito de Dolores
on September 15 of each year, and when he receives the diplomatic credentials of accredited foreign ambassadors and ministers. He is also expected to wear it "in those official ceremonies of greatest solemnity." The sash is worn from right shoulder to left hip, and should be worn underneath the coat except during the swearing-in ceremony, when both the out-going and incoming president wear it over their coat (Article 36).
In addition to the Presidential Sash, each president receives a Presidential Flag; this flag includes the words Estados Unidos Mexicanos in golden letters and the national coat of arms also in gold.
located inside the Bosque de Chapultepec
(Chapultepec Park). The President has the right to use this residence for the six-year term of office.
The National Palace
, a building facing the Mexico City
Zócalo
, is officially the seat of the Executive Power, but is used only for ceremonies or national holidays like Independence Day or Revolution Day. Some areas of the historic building are open to the public, and others hold some government offices.
The President also has the use of the Chapultepec Castle, formerly an Imperial palace of the Second Mexican Empire
, and afterwards the official residence of Mexican Presidents until the Presidency of Lazaro Cardenas
.
No person who has already served as President, whether elected, Provisional, Interim, or Substitute, can be designated as Provisional, Interim, or Substitute President.
The succession provisions have come into play only twice since the current constitution was enacted. In 1928, after the assassination of president-elect Alvaro Obregón
, Congress appointed Emilio Portes Gil
as Interim President; Portes Gil served in the position for 14 months while new elections were called. Pascual Ortiz Rubio
was elected President in the special elections that followed in 1930, but he resigned in 1932. Abelardo L. Rodríguez
was then appointed Interim President to fill out the remainder of Ortiz Rubio's term (under current law Rodríguez would be Provisional President, but at the time there was no distinction between Interim and Provisional Presidents).
(1976–1982), on 17 February 2004.
Former presidents of Mexico continue to carry the title "President" until death but are rarely referred by it; they are commonly called ex-Presidents. They are also given protection by the Estado Mayor Presidencial
. Former presidents are also given a lifelong pension, which they can refuse, as in case of Ernesto Zedillo
.
Contrary to what happens in many other countries, former presidents of Mexico do not continue to be important national figures once out of office, and usually lead a discreet life. This is partly because they do not want to interfere with the government of the new president and partly because they may not have a good public image. This tradition can be traced back to the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas
. Former president Plutarco Elias Calles
had personally selected Cárdenas as his successor, and had hoped to control things from behind the scenes as he had for the last five years. However, when Cárdenas showed he was going to rule in fact as well as in name, Calles publicly criticized him, prompting Cárdenas to have Calles escorted out of the country by military police. Cárdenas himself remained silent on the policies of his successor Manuel Avila Camacho
, establishing a tradition that former presidents do not interfere with their successors.
For example, Ernesto Zedillo
holds important offices in the United Nations
and in the private sector, but outside of Mexico. It is speculated he lives in a self-imposed exile to avoid the hatred of some of his fellow members of the PRI for having acknowledged the PRI's defeat in the 2000 presidential election. Carlos Salinas
also lived in a self-imposed exile in Ireland
, but returned to Mexico. He campaigned intensely to have his brother, Raúl Salinas, freed after he was jailed in the early days of Zedillo's term, accused of drug trafficking and planning the assassination of José Francisco Ruiz Massieu
. Carlos Salinas also wrote a book on neo-liberal Mexico, secured a position with the Dow Jones Company in the United States, and worked as a professor at several prestigious universities in that country.
Three other surviving former presidents, Luis Echeverría
, Miguel de la Madrid
, and Vicente Fox
still live in Mexico. On June 30, 2006, Echeverría was placed under house arrest
under charges of genocide for his role as Secretary of the Interior during the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre
. De la Madrid has served as head of the Fondo de Cultura Económica
, a prestigious government publishing house for academic books. Vicente Fox has announced his intention of building a museum, writing a book, and giving lectures. He is currently a widely recognized conferencist, a published author, and serves currently as the Co-President of the Centrist Democrat International
.
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
and government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Under the Constitution
Constitution of Mexico
The Political Constitution of the United Mexican States is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in the State of Querétaro, by a constitutional convention, during the Mexican Revolution. It was approved by the Constitutional Congress on February 5, 1917...
, the president is also the Supreme Commander
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the Mexican armed forces. The current President is Felipe Calderón
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012...
.
Currently, the office of the President is considered to be revolutionary, in that it is the inheritor of the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
and the powers of office are derived from the Revolutionary Constitution of 1917. Another legacy of the Revolution is its ban on re-election. Mexican presidents are limited to a single six-year term, called a sexenio. No one who has held the post, even on a caretaker basis, is allowed to run or serve again. The constitution and the office of the President closely follow the presidential system
Presidential system
A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not responsible and which cannot, in normal circumstances, dismiss it....
of government.
Requirements to hold office
Chapter III of the ConstitutionConstitution of Mexico
The Political Constitution of the United Mexican States is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in the State of Querétaro, by a constitutional convention, during the Mexican Revolution. It was approved by the Constitutional Congress on February 5, 1917...
deals with the executive branch of government
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
and sets forth the powers of the president, as well as the qualifications for the office. He is vested with the "supreme executive power of the Union."
To be eligible to run for president, the following requirements must be met:
- Be a natural-born citizen of Mexico ("mexicano por nacimiento"), with at least one parent who is a natural-born citizen of Mexico.
- Be a resident of Mexico for at least two decades (20 years).
- Be 35 years or older at the time of the election.
- Be a resident of Mexico for the entire year prior to the election.
- Not be an official of any church or religious denomination.
- Not be in active military service during the six months prior to the election.
- Not be a secretary or under-secretary of state, attorney general, or governor of a State at least six months prior to the election.
- Not having been president already, even in a provisional capacity (see Succession below).
Presidential elections
Presidential elections have been held every six years since 1934 (the constitution previously provided for a four-year mandate). However, until 1994, most elections were not considered to have met international standards of transparency and cleanliness.The president is elected by direct, popular, universal suffrage. Whoever wins a simple plurality of the national vote is elected; there is no runoff election. Former President Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
was elected with a plurality of 43% of the popular vote, Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
won 48% of the vote, and his predecessor Carlos Salinas
Carlos Salinas
Carlos Salinas de Gortari is a Mexican economist and politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party who served as President of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Earlier in his career he worked in the Budget Secretariat all the way up to Secretary...
won with a majority of 50%. The current President, Felipe Calderón
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012...
, won with 36.38% of the votes in the 2006 general election
Mexican general election, 2006
A general election was held in Mexico on Sunday, July 2, 2006. Voters went to the polls to elect, on the federal level:*A new President of the Republic to serve a six-year term, replacing then Mexican President Vicente Fox .*500 members to serve for a...
, finishing only 0.56 percent above his nearest rival, Andrés Manuel López Obrador
Andrés Manuel López Obrador
Andrés Manuel López Obrador , also known as AMLO or El Peje, is a Mexican politician who held the position of Head of Government of the Federal District from 2000 to 2005, before resigning in July 2005 to contend the 2006 presidential election, representing the unsuccessful Coalition for the Good...
(who contested the official results
Mexican general election 2006 controversies
The Mexican general election of July 2, 2006 was one of the most hotly contested elections in Mexican history and as such, the results were controversial...
).
The History of Mexico
History of Mexico
The history of Mexico, a country located in the southern portion of North America, covers a period of more than two millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, the country produced complex indigenous civilizations before being conquered by the Spanish in the 16th Century.Since the...
has not been a peaceful one. After the fall of dictator Porfirio Díaz
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
in 1910 because of the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
, there was no stable government until 1929, when all the revolutionary leaders united in one political party: the National Revolutionary Party, which later changed its name to the Party of the Mexican Revolution, and is now the Institutional Revolutionary Party
Institutional Revolutionary Party
The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few...
. From then until 1988, the PRI ruled Mexico as a virtual one-party state.
Toward the end of his term, the incumbent president in consultation with party leaders, selected the PRI's candidate in the next election in a procedure known as "the tap of the finger" . Until 1988, the PRI's candidate was virtually assured of election, winning by margins well over 70 percent of the vote—results that were usually obtained by massive electoral fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
. In 1988, however, the PRI ruptured and the dissidents formed the National Democratic Front
National Democratic Front (Mexico)
The National Democratic Front was a coalition of left-wing Mexican political parties created in 1988 presidential elections, and that is the immediate antecedent of the Party of the Democratic Revolution. It was result of an agglutination of small political left and center-left forces with a...
with rival center-left parties (now the PRD
Party of the Democratic Revolution
The Party of the Democratic Revolution is a democratic socialist party in Mexico and one of 2 Mexican affiliates of the Socialist International...
). Discontent with the PRI, and the popularity of the Front's candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano is a prominent Mexican politician. He was a former Head of Government of the Federal District and a founder of the Party of the Democratic Revolution .-Biography:...
led to worries that PRI candidate Carlos Salinas de Gortari would not come close to a majority, and might actually be defeated. While the votes were being counted, the tabulation system mysteriously shut down. The government declared Salinas the winner, leading to stronger than ever allegations of electoral fraud.
The PRI enacted a strict internal discipline and government presence in the country, and electoral fraud became common. After the country regained its peace this pattern of fraud continued, with the opposition losing every election until the later part of the 20th century. The first presidential election broadly considered legitimate was the one held in 1994, when the PRI's Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
took office, and in his term several reforms were enacted to ensure fairness and transparency in elections. Partly as a consequence of these reforms, the 1997 federal congressional election saw the first opposition Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of Mexico
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Congress of the Union, Mexico's bicameral legislature. The structure and responsibilities of both chambers of Congress are defined in Articles 50 to 70 of the current constitution.-Composition:The Chamber of Deputies is composed of one federal...
ever, and the 2000 elections
Mexican general election, 2000
General elections were held in Mexico on 6 July 2000. The presidential elections were won by Vicente Fox of the Alliance for Change, who received 43.4% of the vote, the first time the opposition had won an election since the Mexican Revolution...
saw Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
of a PAN
National Action Party (Mexico)
The National Action Party , is one of the three main political parties in Mexico. The party's political platform is generally considered Centre-Right in the Mexican political spectrum. Since 2000, the President of Mexico has been a member of this party; both houses have PAN pluralities, but the...
/PVEM alliance become the first opposition candidate to win an election since 1911. This historical defeat was accepted on election night by PRI in the voice of President Zedillo; while this calmed fears of violence, it also fueled questions about the role of the president in the electoral process and to whom the responsibility of conceding defeat should fall in a democratic election.
The role of unions in the new balance of power and future elections is documented in works like historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Enrique Krauze
Enrique Krauze
Enrique Krauze Kleinbort is a Mexican historian, essayist and publisher. He is president of the publisher Editorial Clío and director of the cultural magazine ....
's Analysis of the Corporative System.
Presidential powers
The 1917 Constitution borrowed heavily from the Constitution of the United States, providing for a clear separation of powersSeparation of powers
The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
while giving the president wider powers than his American counterpart
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. However, this has only recently become the case in practice.
For the first 71 years after the enactment of the 1917 Constitution, the president exercised nearly absolute control over the country. Much of this power came from the de facto monopoly status of the PRI. As mentioned above, he effectively chose his successor as president by personally nominating the PRI's candidate in the next election. In addition, the unwritten rules of the PRI allowed him to designate party officials and candidates all the way down to the local level. He thus had an important (but not exclusive) influence over the political life of the country (part of his power had to be shared with unions and other groups, but as an individual he had no peers). This, and his constitutional powers, made some political commentators describe the president as a six-year dictator, and to call this system "Imperial Presidency". This power reached its peak around the early 1980s, when a grave economic crisis created discomfort both in the population and inside the party, and the president's power was no longer absolute but still impressive.
An important characteristic of this system is that the new president was effectively chosen by the old one (since the PRI candidate was assured of election) but once he assumed power, the old one lost all power and influence ("no reelection" is a cornerstone of Mexican politics). In fact, tradition called for the incumbent president to fade into the background immediately after the election of his successor. This renewed command helped maintain party discipline and avoided the stagnation associated with a single man holding power for decades, prompting Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...
to call Mexico's political system "the perfect dictatorship," since the president's powers were cloaked by democratic practice.
With the democratic reforms of recent years and fairer elections, the president's powers have been limited in fact as well as in name. Vargas Llosa, during the Fox administration, called this new system "The Imperfect Democracy". His current powers and rights include the following:
- The right to appoint the Attorney GeneralAttorney General (Mexico)The Attorney General of Mexico is the head of the Office of the General Prosecutor and the Federal Public Ministry , an institution belonging to the Federal executive branch that is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of...
- The right to appoint the Attorney General and the Chief of Police of the Federal District
- The right to appoint the Secretaries of State and all the members of the Mexican Executive CabinetMexican Executive CabinetThe cabinet of Mexico is the Executive Cabinet and is a part of the executive branch of the Mexican government. It consists of eighteen Secretaries of State, the head of the federal executive legal office and the Attorney General....
- The right to appoint all Mexican AmbassadorAmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
s - Supreme power over the army, navy, and air force
- The power to declare war and peace (with prior congressional authorization)
- The power of negotiating foreign treaties
- The power to issue decrees
- The right to nominate Supreme Court justicesSupreme Court of Justice of the NationThe Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation is the highest federal court in the United Mexican States. It consists of a President of the Supreme Court and ten Ministers who are confirmed by the Senate from a list proposed by the President of the Republic.Justices of the SCJN serve for fifteen...
- The power to veto laws (and, after a Supreme Court ruling about the controversial 2004 budget, also the power to veto decrees from CongressCongress of MexicoThe Congress of the Union is the legislative branch of the Mexican government...
). - The right to introduce bills in Congress for their consideration.
A decree is a legislative instrument that has an expiration date and that is issued by one of the three branches of government. Congress may issue decrees, and the President may issue decrees as well. However, they have all the power of laws, but cannot be changed except by the power that issued them. Decrees are very limited in their extent. One such decree is the federal budget, which is issued by congress. The president's office may suggest a budget, but at the end of the day, it is congress that decrees how to collect taxes and how to spend them. A Supreme Court ruling on Vicente Fox's veto of the 2004 budget suggests that the President may have the right to veto decrees from Congress.
Since 1997, the Congress has been plural, usually with opposition parties having a majority. Major reforms (tax, energy) have to pass by Congress, and the ruling President usually found his efforts blocked: the PRI's Zedillo by opposing PAN/PRD congressmen, and later the PAN's Fox by the PRI and PRD. The PAN would push the reforms it denied to the PRI and viceversa. This situation, novel in a country where Congress was +90% dominated by the president's party for most of the century, has led to a legal analysis of the president's power. Formerly almost a dictator (because of PRI's party discipline), the current times show the president's power as somewhat limited. In 2004, President Fox
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
threatened to veto the budget approved by Congress, claiming the budget overstepped his authority to lead the country, only to learn no branch of government had the power to veto a decree issued by another branch of government (although a different, non jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
-setting ruling stated he could return the budget with observations).
Oath of Office
Upon taking office, the President raises his/her right arm to shoulder-level and takes the following oath:Translation:
Presidential sash and flag
The Mexican Presidential sashPresidential sash
A presidential sash is a cloth sash worn by presidents of many nations in the world. Such sashes are worn by presidents in Africa, Asia, Europe, and most notably, in Latin America....
has the colors of the Mexican flag
Flag of Mexico
The flag of Mexico is a vertical tricolor of green, white, and red with the national coat of arms charged in the center of the white stripe. While the meaning of the colors has changed over time, these three colors were adopted by Mexico following independence from Spain during the country's War...
in three bands of equal width, with red on top, white in the center, and green on the bottom, worn from right shoulder to left waist; it also includes the National Seal, in gold thread, to be worn chest-high. During the swearing-in ceremony of a newly elected President, the outgoing President turns in the sash to the current President of Congress, who in turn gives it to the new President after the latter has sworn the oath of office. The sash is the symbol of the Executive Federal Power, and can only be worn by the President.
According to Article 35 of the Law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthem
Law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthem
The Law on the National Coat of Arms, Flag and Anthem is a set of rules and guidelines passed by the Mexican government on the display and use of the flag , coat of arms and the anthem . The original law was passed in 1984 and it contains 7 chapters, a preamble and a section that contains the...
, the President must wear the sash at the swearing-in ceremony, when he makes his annual State of the Union report to Congress, during the commemoration of the Grito de Dolores
Grito de Dolores
The Grito de Dolores also known as El Grito de la Independencia , uttered from the small town of Dolores, near Guanajuato on April 19, 1810 is the event that marks the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence and is the most important national holiday observed in Mexico...
on September 15 of each year, and when he receives the diplomatic credentials of accredited foreign ambassadors and ministers. He is also expected to wear it "in those official ceremonies of greatest solemnity." The sash is worn from right shoulder to left hip, and should be worn underneath the coat except during the swearing-in ceremony, when both the out-going and incoming president wear it over their coat (Article 36).
In addition to the Presidential Sash, each president receives a Presidential Flag; this flag includes the words Estados Unidos Mexicanos in golden letters and the national coat of arms also in gold.
Presidential residence
The President's official residence and main workplace is Los PinosLos Pinos
Los Pinos is the official residence and office of the President of Mexico. Located in the Bosque de Chapultepec in central Mexico City, it became the presidential seat in 1934, when Gen...
located inside the Bosque de Chapultepec
Chapultepec
Chapultepec Park, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" in Mexico City, is the largest city park in Latin America, measuring in total just over 686 hectares. Centered on a rock formation called Chapultepec Hill, one of the park's main functions is to be an ecological space in the vast...
(Chapultepec Park). The President has the right to use this residence for the six-year term of office.
The National Palace
National Palace (Mexico)
The National Palace, or Palacio Nacional in Spanish), was the seat of the federal executive in Mexico. It is located on Mexico City's main square, the Plaza de la Constitución...
, a building facing the Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
Zócalo
Zócalo
The Zócalo is the main plaza or square in the heart of the historic center of Mexico City. The plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Square," and today its formal name is Plaza de la Constitución...
, is officially the seat of the Executive Power, but is used only for ceremonies or national holidays like Independence Day or Revolution Day. Some areas of the historic building are open to the public, and others hold some government offices.
The President also has the use of the Chapultepec Castle, formerly an Imperial palace of the Second Mexican Empire
Second Mexican Empire
The Second Mexican Empire was the name of Mexico under the regime established from 1864 to 1867. It was created by Napoleon III of France, who attempted to use the Mexican adventure to recapture some of the grandeur of earlier Napoleonic times...
, and afterwards the official residence of Mexican Presidents until the Presidency of Lazaro Cardenas
Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.-Early life:Lázaro Cárdenas was born on May 21, 1895 in a lower-middle class family in the village of Jiquilpan, Michoacán. He supported his family from age 16 after the death of his father...
.
Succession
Article 84 of the Mexican Constitution states that "in case of absolute absence of a President" the following should happen:- If Congress is not in session, then the Permanent Commission elects a Provisional President (Presidente Provisional), and then calls Congress to an extraordinary session, at which point the process continues as below.
- If the absence (death, impeachment, etc.) should occur in the first two years of the term, Congress (if in session, or after being called to extraordinary session by the Permanent Commission) must elect, by a majority of votes in a secret ballot with a quorum of at least two-thirds of its members, an Interim President (Presidente Interino). Congress must also call for elections in no less than 14 months and no more than 18 months after the absence of the President occurs; the person who wins those elections will be President for the remainder of the original six-year presidential term.
- If the absence should occur in the last four years of the term, Congress (if in session, or after being called to extraordinary session by the Permanent Commission) will select a Substitute President (Presidente Substituto) by a majority of votes in a secret ballot as above. The Substitute President will be President of the United Mexican States until the end of the original six-year presidential term, at which point regular elections are held.
No person who has already served as President, whether elected, Provisional, Interim, or Substitute, can be designated as Provisional, Interim, or Substitute President.
The succession provisions have come into play only twice since the current constitution was enacted. In 1928, after the assassination of president-elect Alvaro Obregón
Álvaro Obregón
General Álvaro Obregón Salido was the President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. He was assassinated in 1928, shortly after winning election to another presidential term....
, Congress appointed Emilio Portes Gil
Emilio Portes Gil
Emilio Cándido Portes Gil was President of Mexico from 1928 to 1930.-Biography:Portes Gil was born in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of the state of Tamaulipas in northeast Mexico....
as Interim President; Portes Gil served in the position for 14 months while new elections were called. Pascual Ortiz Rubio
Pascual Ortiz Rubio
Pascual Ortiz Rubio was a Mexican politician. He was born in Morelia, Michoacán as the son of Pascual Ortiz de Ayala y Huerta and Lenor Rubio Cornelis...
was elected President in the special elections that followed in 1930, but he resigned in 1932. Abelardo L. Rodríguez
Abelardo L. Rodríguez
Abelardo Rodríguez Luján, commonly known as Abelardo L. Rodríguez was the interim president of Mexico from 1932–1934, completing the term of Pascual Ortiz after his resignation.-Early life:...
was then appointed Interim President to fill out the remainder of Ortiz Rubio's term (under current law Rodríguez would be Provisional President, but at the time there was no distinction between Interim and Provisional Presidents).
Former presidents
As of December 2009, there are five living former presidents. The most recent president to die was José López PortilloJosé López Portillo
José López Portillo y Pacheco was the President of Mexico from 1976 to 1982.Born in Mexico City, López Portillo studied Law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico before beginning his political career with the Institutional Revolutionary Party in 1959.He held several positions in the...
(1976–1982), on 17 February 2004.
| Name | Term of office | Date of birth |
|---|---|---|
| Luis Echeverría Luis Echeverría Luis Echeverría Álvarez served as President of Mexico from 1970 to 1976.-Early history:Echeverría joined the faculty of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1947 and taught political theory... |
1970–1976 | 17 January 1922 |
| Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado is a Mexican politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party who served as President of Mexico from 1982 to 1988.-Biography:... |
1982–1988 | 12 December 1934 |
| Carlos Salinas de Gortari | 1988–1994 | 3 April 1948 |
| Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party... |
1994–2000 | 27 December 1951 |
| Vicente Fox Vicente Fox Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected... |
2000–2006 | 2 July 1942 |
Former presidents of Mexico continue to carry the title "President" until death but are rarely referred by it; they are commonly called ex-Presidents. They are also given protection by the Estado Mayor Presidencial
Estado Mayor Presidencial
The Estado Mayor Presidencial — EMP is the institution charged with protecting and safeguarding the President of Mexico and the First Lady of Mexico. It is described in its regulations as a techno-military organism and an administrative unit of the Presidency of the Republic of Mexico in...
. Former presidents are also given a lifelong pension, which they can refuse, as in case of Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
.
Contrary to what happens in many other countries, former presidents of Mexico do not continue to be important national figures once out of office, and usually lead a discreet life. This is partly because they do not want to interfere with the government of the new president and partly because they may not have a good public image. This tradition can be traced back to the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.-Early life:Lázaro Cárdenas was born on May 21, 1895 in a lower-middle class family in the village of Jiquilpan, Michoacán. He supported his family from age 16 after the death of his father...
. Former president Plutarco Elias Calles
Plutarco Elías Calles
Plutarco Elías Calles was a Mexican general and politician. He was president of Mexico from 1924 to 1928, but he continued to be the de facto ruler from 1928–1935, a period known as the maximato...
had personally selected Cárdenas as his successor, and had hoped to control things from behind the scenes as he had for the last five years. However, when Cárdenas showed he was going to rule in fact as well as in name, Calles publicly criticized him, prompting Cárdenas to have Calles escorted out of the country by military police. Cárdenas himself remained silent on the policies of his successor Manuel Avila Camacho
Manuel Ávila Camacho
Manuel Ávila Camacho served as the President of Mexico from 1940 to 1946.Manuel Ávila was born in the city of Teziutlán, a small town in Puebla, to middle-class parents, Manuel Ávila Castillo and Eufrosina Camacho Bello. He had several siblings, among them sister María Jovita Ávila Camacho and...
, establishing a tradition that former presidents do not interfere with their successors.
For example, Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
holds important offices in the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and in the private sector, but outside of Mexico. It is speculated he lives in a self-imposed exile to avoid the hatred of some of his fellow members of the PRI for having acknowledged the PRI's defeat in the 2000 presidential election. Carlos Salinas
Carlos Salinas
Carlos Salinas de Gortari is a Mexican economist and politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party who served as President of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Earlier in his career he worked in the Budget Secretariat all the way up to Secretary...
also lived in a self-imposed exile in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, but returned to Mexico. He campaigned intensely to have his brother, Raúl Salinas, freed after he was jailed in the early days of Zedillo's term, accused of drug trafficking and planning the assassination of José Francisco Ruiz Massieu
José Francisco Ruiz Massieu
José Francisco Ruiz Massieu was a Mexican political figure. He was governor of Guerrero from 1987 to 1993. He then served as the secretary-general of the Institutional Revolutionary Party in 1994...
. Carlos Salinas also wrote a book on neo-liberal Mexico, secured a position with the Dow Jones Company in the United States, and worked as a professor at several prestigious universities in that country.
Three other surviving former presidents, Luis Echeverría
Luis Echeverría
Luis Echeverría Álvarez served as President of Mexico from 1970 to 1976.-Early history:Echeverría joined the faculty of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1947 and taught political theory...
, Miguel de la Madrid
Miguel de la Madrid
Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado is a Mexican politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party who served as President of Mexico from 1982 to 1988.-Biography:...
, and Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
still live in Mexico. On June 30, 2006, Echeverría was placed under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
under charges of genocide for his role as Secretary of the Interior during the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre
Tlatelolco massacre
The Tlatelolco massacre, also known as The Night of Tlatelolco , was a government massacre of student and civilian protesters and bystanders that took place during the afternoon and night of October 2, 1968, in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the Tlatelolco section of Mexico City...
. De la Madrid has served as head of the Fondo de Cultura Económica
Fondo de Cultura Económica
Fondo de Cultura Económica is the most important publishing house in Mexico and one of the most important ones in Latin America. It was originally established in 1934 by Daniel Cosío Villegas as a way to provide students of economics with books in Spanish on the subject...
, a prestigious government publishing house for academic books. Vicente Fox has announced his intention of building a museum, writing a book, and giving lectures. He is currently a widely recognized conferencist, a published author, and serves currently as the Co-President of the Centrist Democrat International
Centrist Democrat International
The Centrist Democrat International was until 2001 the Christian Democrat International and before that the Christian Democrat and People's Parties International...
.