Next Thursday President Enrique Peña Nieto (EPN) will deliver in writing to Congress his fourth State of the Nation report.
That night EPN will also meet with over 300 young people to discuss the report. The meet will be broadcast live nationwide both on radio and television.
This gathering is considered a bold breakaway from the boring monologues of former presidents, who have always touted the gains of their administrations.
But some see it as a dangerous move by EPN, as his rapport with students has never been good. Let’s not forget that he was chased out of a university campus by what later became a movement called Yo Soy 132 (I Am 132) in which students on the web demanded a vote against him while he was still a candidate.
It is said that there will be no previous screening to the questions and that EPN’s objective is to move him closer to young people.
Though by then the students will have read the report and it is clear that the subjects at hand is what is politically and economically hot right now.
Surely the handling of the rebel teachers who sternly oppose his Education Reform will be a trending topic and by now parents are getting active in opening the schools that the teachers keep closed in the states of Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas.
Another reason why the new format is questionable is because it comes at a time when EPN’s popularity is floundering at a historical low of 23 percent and as a pundit puts it, “anything he says will be used against him.”
Also this new way of doing a live show with open mikes to all those wishing to participate is seen as threatening to the president’s credibility. The chances for him to come out clean from the fray are slim.
Though the content of the State of the Nation report is unknown, it will surely resemble past versions in which past and present presidents have sung glories to their administrations. And as it has happened many times before, whatever the content of the report may be, criticism will be harsh as EPN is now a “monedita de oro” (a gold coin), trying to please everyone.
One thing that’s not expected from him is to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and brag about achievements that people see as failures. Will EPN come forward and speak with honesty or will he do it with a forked tongue? That we shall see as he takes the questions from this brand-new-in-Mexico town hall type of gathering.
Something several columnists expect him to do is to launch the platform for his last two years in the presidency. Time flies and the years have swooped on EPN mercilessly. And if he continues down the path of more of the same by claiming that there are nations that are worse off than Mexico, his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) may as well start kissing the possibility of launching a winning candidate in the 2018 presidential election goodbye, which, like it or not, is just around the corner.
September 1 is considered in politics as “The President’s Day,” as traditionally all eyes are set upon the report and it will indeed be Peña Nieto’s day to face the nation live.
About the only thing that’s clear is that EPN will need a lot of luck to survive the day unscathed.
Mexican’s are indeed now anxious to watch EPN’s new reality show and the many political foes he has will most definitely be rubbing their hands together hoping for the slightest blunder.
