The opposition that got tired of being the opposition

The old PAN members, now out of the party, nostalgically recall that era when PAN served as a testimonial opposition to the PRI regime. We voters have been left defenseless against the ideological and narrative hijacking of Mexico's public life, with an opposition that grew tired of being opposition and sold out to the regime through backroom deals in the chambers of deputies and senators, in the face of officialdom.

In Mexico, the right seems ashamed to be so. It is increasingly difficult to find political actors who articulate a modern right-wing agenda capable of offering a clear contrast to Morena's narrative. Instead of building their own differentiated discourse, we see opposition governors and the very president of Acción Nacional supporting Claudia Sheinbaum on issues that could have represented an attractive alternative for undecided voters: remember the video where he asked, "What do you need, President? Count on PAN!".

They seem to forget about that electorate that did not go to the polls in 2024 and which is not insignificant: 38,353,810 citizens decided to abstain, representing 38.95% of the electoral roll. This figure is higher than the total vote obtained by Morena and its allies, which totaled just over 35 million votes. This shows that the real political challenge is not only to contest Morena's hard vote but to mobilize those who feel disillusioned or lacking representation.

The opposition forces missed the opportunity to offer a solid alternative. For example, instead of silently supporting Claudia Sheinbaum's positions, the opposition—with PAN as its main exponent, having obtained more than 8 million votes in 2024—could have promoted a bicameral meeting mechanism with U.S. congressmen to establish a parliamentary agenda that included proposals on trade and public security, critical issues in the bilateral relationship with the United States.

This initiative would have allowed for concrete solutions to be proposed in the face of growing trade tensions and the expansion of drug trafficking, two problems that Morena has clumsily handled.

The right has an ideological advantage that it has not been able to capitalize on: its emphasis on individual freedom, the defense of private property, and the promotion of the market economy. While Morena's government has increased welfare spending by more than 1.7 trillion pesos since 2018 without significantly reducing extreme poverty, a proposal based on economic reactivation, private investment, and the creation of formal jobs would have offered an attractive alternative for millions of Mexicans who today face job precariousness and economic uncertainty.

Countries that have adopted liberal-conservative policies, such as Chile during the reforms of the 90s or the United States under Republican administrations, achieved economic growth rates above 4% annually, in contrast to Mexico's mediocre performance, which barely reached 1.9% on average during López Obrador's term.

The opposition, and particularly PAN, has not been able to interpret their voters' rejection of these ambiguous political agreements nor understand the disenchantment with the progressive agenda. Much less have they managed to articulate a clear position from which they can present themselves as a leading actor on the political stage.

In the face of this lack of proposal, submission, and complacent agreements with Sheinbaum, entrepreneurs, voters, and various actors have begun to push for republican alternatives. Among them are interest groups supporting Eduardo Verástegui and his party, as well as the creation of forces like México Republicano. Both initiatives, although still small, represent an attempt to rescue the common sense, the market economy, and the freedoms that PAN and the traditional opposition stopped defending.

For those 38,353,810 Mexicans who did not vote for Morena in 2024, the path to a new political alternative seems to be just under construction. However, the failure of progressivism and the wear of the statist narrative open a historic opportunity for the right to reclaim its principles and build a modern proposal based on freedom, economic growth, and the strengthening of the rule of law. If the opposition doesn't understand this reality, that vast electorate will remain an empty space that new political forces could well occupy.