Citizens' Movement (Mexico)

Citizens' Movement (, MC) is a centre-left political party in Mexico. It was founded in 1999 under the name Convergence for Democracy, which was then shortened to Convergence in 2002 and changed to Citizens' Movement in 2011.

Established on 1 August 1999, Convergence for Democracy was founded by civil society activists and former Institutional Revolutionary Party members, advocating for a social market economy and democratic reforms to increase citizen participation in governance. Once the drug war started, the party included demilitarization efforts and drug regulation in its platform. Initially aligning with left-wing coalitions since its inception, disagreements with left-wing parties prompted the party's shift to independence in elections from 2012 onwards. However, it briefly joined an alliance during the 2018 election. Since then, it has heavily focused on sustainability and social issues in its party platform.

It is the third political force in the country, receiving 10.32% of the votes cast in the 2024 presidential election, and has yet to secure victory in a presidential race. As of 2023, it has 384,005 members, and its members are known as ''emecistas.''

History

Convergence for Democracy (1997–2002)

Convergence for Democracy originally gained national political grouping status in 1997, before attaining its party status in 1999. Founded on the principles of a social market economy, the party asserted it as the most effective framework for economic organization. Additionally, it advocated for additional democratic reforms in Mexico, aiming to give the public greater control over the country, and to further enhance the country's democratization process that started in 1982.

For the 2000 presidential election, Convergence for Democracy joined other left-wing parties in the Alliance for Mexico ''(Alianza por México).'' They nominated Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas as the presidential candidate and endorsed various candidates for state positions, namely Andrés Manuel López Obrador for the Head of the Federal District. Despite Cárdenas' third-place finish, López Obrador emerged victorious in his election.

In the local elections of 2001 and 2002, the party made gains in different states, securing victories for the positions of municipal presidents in the capitals of Veracruz and Oaxaca.

In August 2002, during the party's second National Assembly, members collectively opted to streamline the party's name to Convergence.

Convergence (2002–2011)

Convergence contested the 2003 mid-term congressional election as an independent party, and garnered 2.3% of the popular vote and five seats in the Chamber of Deputies. By 2006, the party had one coalition governor, one senator, 5 federal deputies, 25 state deputies, and 29 municipal presidents.

In the 2006 general election, Convergence established another left-wing electoral alliance, the Coalition for the Good of All, with the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and the Labor Party (PT). The alliance rallied behind Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who faced a narrow defeat to Felipe Calderón, with a slim margin of approximately 0.56% in the national vote, prompting the alliance to assert allegations of electoral fraud. Following the Federal Electoral Tribunal's rejection of requests for a recount, the alliance's constituent parties coalesced to form a legislative coalition known as the Broad Progressive Front.

The tenure of Felipe Calderón significantly reshaped the political landscape, marked by the initiation of the Mexican drug war and the 2008 financial crisis in Mexico. By the 2009 legislative elections, Convergence and the Labor Party forged an electoral alliance known as ''Salvemos a México'' and formed a party platform opposing policies implemented during Calderón's administration. Convergence adopted a more assertive stance toward the implementation of a social market economy, as the party claimed that the financial crisis was caused by a lack of regulatory oversight by the state. The party also called for an end to the drug war, deeming it a failed endeavor that tarnished the military's public image and contributed to the erosion of human rights in the country. The alliance proposed the demilitarization of the country and called for democratic reforms in order to establish a true democratic state, free from discrimination, as a means to reduce crime. Furthermore, Convergence called for the creation of a fourth branch of government, managed by citizens, with the authority to audit and sanction members of the other three branches in cases of non-compliance with their obligations.

In 2010, one of the party's own candidates, Gabino Cué Monteagudo, won the governorship of Oaxaca through a coalition with other parties.

In 2011, during the party's second Special National Assembly, members voted to reform the party's structure, including its name and logo, rebranding the party to Citizens' Movement.

Citizens' Movement (2011–present)

In 2012, Citizens' Movement became part of the left-wing Progressive Movement electoral alliance, nominating Andrés Manual López Obrador for a second presidential candidacy. The party continued its aggressive stance on the state of Mexico's economic system, attributing the widespread poverty to the neoliberal policies implemented in Mexico since the mid-1980s, which López Obrador campaigned on changing. However, López Obrador lost to Enrique Peña Nieto by a margin of over 5%.

Following the election, López Obrador parted ways with the PRD and Citizens' Movement and chose to establish his own political party, Morena. In late 2012, the PRD entered into the Pact for Mexico agreement with the Institutional Revolutionary Party and National Action Party. Considering this a betrayal, Dante Delgado Rannauro, the party leader of Citizens' Movement, severed ties with the PRD. The party also clarified that it would not enter into an alliance with Morena due to ideology disagreements, which led the party to participate in elections independently from 2013 to 2017.

In the leadup to the 2018 general election, Dante Delgado expressed willingness to participate in an electoral alliance. Despite the Labor Party, their long-time ally, forming an alliance with López Obrador's Morena, Citizens' Movement maintained its stance of refraining from aligning with Morena. Instead, Citizens' Movement forged a big-tent electoral alliance with the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and the National Action Party (PAN). Delgado and Raúl Flores, the head of the PRD, stated that the alliance's goal was to prove that the country's interests went before party politics, with Delgado stating that the alliance legally bound the parties to serve the citizens they represented. As part of its digital electoral strategy, Citizens' Movement utilized the viral music video "Movimiento Naranja – Yuawi," amassing over 54 million views on YouTube by the time of the election. The alliance's nominee, Ricardo Anaya, lost to Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who secured a landslide victory. However, in Jalisco, the party achieved its first solo governorship victory, electing Enrique Alfaro Ramírez.
Since the 2018 elections, the party has remained independent in elections, abstaining from forming any alliances and even nominating their own presidential candidate, Jorge Máynez, in the 2024 presidential election. The party's agenda also underwent a shift in priorities. The party placed a heavy focus on the environment, sustainable mobility, and a green economy, proposing constitutuional amendments that would assign the government the responsibility of mitigating climate change. Additionally, the party platform focused more on social issues, particularly the eradication of violence, exclusion, and discrimination against women. The party has also continued its opposition to the drug war, claiming that continued militarization efforts had not decreased violence, instead advocating for reforming 2006 drug policies and the implementation of regulations on drug usage as measures to mitigate violence.

Ideology

The party describes itself as a center-left social democratic, with the party positioning itself to the right of Morena.

The current party platform aims to advocate for a social market economy, gender equality, sexual freedom, sustainable mobility, the use of sustainable energy, a green economy, a new fiscal pact, demilitarization, federalism and primary elections in political parties.

Party leaders

Election results

Presidential elections

Congressional elections

Chamber of Deputies

Senate elections

See also

* Politics of Mexico
* List of political parties in Mexico

Notes

References

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Political parties in Mexico
Progressive Alliance