Mexico's president was elected for one very good reason: His promise to end a culture of corruption that has long held Mexico back. But two years in, it increasingly looks like he's unwilling or unable to deliver. wsj.com/articles/mexic… via @WSJ
We have a pretty solid body of evidence building up: He has steadfastly ignored the institutional solutions to corruption. Rather than name a strong, independent anti-corruption prosecutor, he named a party hack. Funding cut for transparency agency and elsewhere.
Mexicans self-report that they are being asked more often for bribes. The government is resorting increasingly to directly assigned projects rather than public bidding. Government agencies are increasingly denying requests for transparency.
When high-profile allies of the president are accused of corruption, he has defended them and cleared them of wrongdoing without real probes. His zest for going after graft seems limited to his rivals.
And now he wants to hold a referendum asking Mexicans if they want to try several ex presidents for corruption, as if rule of law should be a Roman circus.
I strongly believe past administrations were very, very corrupt. His diagnosis was right. One can only hope he sees that the solution, as everywhere, lies in creating strong and independent institutions to systematically punish graft, not leave it up to the whims of one man.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
