The transfer of members of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Cabinet to Morena’s leadership was necessary. Only the heir to the staff of command has the legitimacy to arbitrate, define criteria, and prevent abuses in thousands of candidacies that will be processed in the coming months. Contrary to what one might think, I don’t believe it’s a task particularly to the president’s liking, who, unlike most of the political class, doesn’t seem to derive pleasure from the expansion of power for power’s sake. Sheinbaum is focused on modernizing public administration, improving state efficiency, and launching Plan Mexico, fundamental pillars of her strategy to activate the economy and improve the situation of the poor. In that sense, it is an annoyance to dedicate fundamental pieces of her team to the task of avoiding fratricidal struggles or shameful candidacies within her party.
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But it was essential, because only she can do it. It was too much to ask Luisa María Alcalde or Andrés López Beltrán, current heads of Morena, to resist the pressure from governors and legislative leaders, who are preparing to consolidate teams and territories based on the control of upcoming candidacies. In addition to their youth, both arrived at this storm relatively diminished. And while they were not antagonistic to the president, far from it, they were not perceived as operators linked to her inner circle either.
The probable arrival of Ariadna Montiel to the presidency of Morena and Citlali Hernández’s leading role in managing candidacies form an ideal formula. Both former Secretaries of State enjoy Sheinbaum’s trust and have impeccable credentials in their Obradorista careers. Ariadna is one of the few agency heads who repeated in her position at the change of the six-year term; regarding Citlalli Hernández, it should be remembered that in the previous administration, she served as the party’s general secretary. This is an intelligent choice by Palacio, because they are two unimpeachable figures even from Palenque’s perspective. This allows them to confront the rest of the protagonists who influence Morena with absolute legitimacy and without visible fissures.
And speaking of Palenque, a parenthesis. López Obrador has fully fulfilled his purpose of letting his successor govern, and she has done so responsibly, both in her duties as head of state and in what concerns the political movement she leads. The former president knows that any intervention of his weakens the government against its many adversaries and would cause internal fractures. Sheinbaum’s success is also the success of the 4T in its second season. But the third season is another matter. To whom to hand over the staff of command is something that concerns both, and that will require the task of building consensus between Palacio and Palenque. Now, the governors who will be elected next year (17) and the following ones will serve as such for half or less of this six-year term and half or more of the next. That is, Sheinbaum enjoys absolute autonomy to appoint the Cabinet members with whom she will govern until the end of 2030 and, without a doubt, will be the central reference and arbiter in the dispute to choose candidacies in the coming months. But she will have to do so by checking the rearview mirror, with the understanding that these decisions will shape a future political territory that transcends her own Administration. Particularly in the case of the southeast.
The election of Ariadna Montiel and Citlalli Hernández vaccinates against any objection and promotes tranquility in the areas that matter in Morena. But what is truly decisive is that both allow maximizing the popularity and political strength that the president has acquired, in view of negotiations with power factors within the party and its allies in the upcoming scramble.
This is not a strategy to impose “claudista” figures in the different entities, because she doesn’t even have them for all or most cases. In theory, today everyone boasts their loyalty to Sheinbaum, but it is evident that they come from diverse origins and many of them are driven by local power groups of different kinds. What it is about is avoiding absurd abuses or unacceptable candidates and imposing consensual rules among the actors.
Let’s hope all this serves to dignify the difficult balance between potentially successful candidates in campaigns and potentially successful candidates in the task of governing. In the past, the former was prioritized to the detriment of the latter, and there is the case of Cuauhtémoc Blanco, a sweeping candidate at the polls and a nightmare in the government house of Morelos. The possibility of losing in a couple of entities with genuine candidates would not be entirely harmful if it avoids shameful governors. After all, the president has been able to establish a productive relationship with most opposition governors in the states. Beyond the 17 she needs for the approval of constitutional changes, when it comes to governing, an efficient governor is more useful to Sheinbaum than an inept one, even if they are from Morena.
For now, the party leadership will begin to be part of the broad command board with which the president seeks to promote more efficient governance for the rest of the six-year term. The way she has strengthened her leadership without major outbursts reveals a political capacity that was not necessarily attributed to her.
