PRI MAINTAINS CONTROL OF STATE CONGRESS

by Jeff Barnet, FNS Editor

The centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) maintained its firm control of the Chihuahua state assembly in elections held July 5. Final results posted in El Norte de Ciudad Juárez of July 15 showed the PRI with 19 state legislative seats, compared to 12 for the right-of-center National Action Party (PAN) and two for the left-of-center Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD).

The PRI also took four out of seven legislative seats in Ciudad Juárez.

In direct elections for diputado in the 22 state legislative districts, the PRI won 12 and the PAN 10. However, in the eleven seats determined by proportional representation, the PRI garnered seven, while the PAN and the PRD earned two each.

Initial results showed the PRI taking as many as 17 of the 22 districts, however, late returns showed PAN was strong in rural parts of the state, particularly in eastern Chihuahua.

Parliamentary leader of the PAN in the state Congress, Carlos Aguilar Camargo, denounced the PRI legislative assembly for "paralyzing" the work of the government in recent months in an attempt to hurt the Barrio administration and help elect PRI gubernatorial candidate Patricio Martínez.

"The PRIista majority decided to abandon their obligations," said Aguilar. "For them, the state government is converted into a job-referral agency and the PRI diputados are always looking for a handout."

In Ciudad Juárez, which includes Chihuahua state districts 2 through 8, the PAN captured the central and eastern parts of the the city, while the PRI took the northwest and nibbled along the southern and southeastern edges.

The PAN was victorious in districts 3, 4, and 6, which run adjacent to each other, and includes most of the downtown and the eastern part of Juárez running along the border with El Paso. The PRI took seats in districts 2, 5, 7, and 8.

According to El Diario of July 11, the following is a list of the newly elected diputados from Ciudad Juárez:

Diputados for the PRI

District 2 -- Jose Duarte

District 5 -- Isela Torres

District 7 -- Tomás Herrera

District 8 -- Arturo Avila

Diputados for the PAN

District 3 -- Héctor Arreola

District 4 -- Bulmaro Márquez

District 6 -- Híram Contreras

Sources: El Diario, El Norte de Ciudad Juárez