Politics, with dialogue, are better

Different points of view should be seen as something favorable in a democratic society, considering these differences are what allow citizens to form their own opinions on several issues. Adhering to just one point of view is a characteristic of authoritarian regimes.

In Mexican politics – as it happens in almost all other countries – differences of opinion on public issues are highly common. What changes from country to country is the way these are dealt with.

The United States is the most recent example of this. Republicans and Democrats failed to reach an agreement on the budget for their country, a situation which paralyzed most public offices; after three days, both parties reached a temporary agreement.

However, between 2015 and 2016, it took Spain almost an entire year to define a government after none of the parties managed to achieve the majority of votes in the elections.

Disagreements are part of our everyday life and every day we have to find a way to solve them.

Without claiming things are vastly different now, in recent years Mexico has shown some progress on the way obstacles are overcome to pass important reforms. And yesterday an event took place in favor of political civility.

The Chihuahua Governor of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), Javier Corral , met yesterday with the Minister of the Interior , Alfonso Navarrete, after the Governor accused the Ministry of Finance of withholding MXN$700 million in federal funds as retaliation for opening an investigation against former Chihuahua Governor César Duarte ; and the Ministry accused the Governor of extortion. Corral and sympathizers from several sectors marched the streets – a Caravan for Dignity – of Mexico City, demanding the funds. Animosity was high but on Wednesday everything began to calm down with the meeting Corral had with the Minister of the Interior.

Mexico is a few weeks away from beginning a period of high political competition, where a new President will be elected, thus, it's vital to prioritize agreements over electoral matters, as in most cases citizens become the hostages of the differences between political groups.

Governors and legislators should always seek to do politics for the common good ...and if they engage in dialogues, all the better.

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