Mexico's Electoral Tribunal Finds No Evidence of Fraud (Says Mexican Left Made No Case)

The Herald (Mexico Edition) ^ | August 29, 2006 | El Universal wire services

[StJacques]

Tribunal finds no evidence of fraud

Wire services
El Universal
August 29, 2006

The nation's top electoral court announced Monday that a partial recount of the votes in the disputed presidential election found no evidence of widespread fraud, a ruling that placed conservative Felipe Calderón tantalizingly close to victory.

In a 7-0 ruling, the Federal Electoral Tribunal said it had found only minor mathematical and administrative errors in the initial vote count of the July 2 election. The tribunal said Monday its recount subtracted just 4,183 votes from Calderón's margin of victory, reducing it to about 240,000 over left-leaning candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The panel still could refuse to certify the election, in part based on López Obrador's contention that President Vicente Fox and business groups illegally aided Calderón's campaign. Such a decision appeared unlikely, political observers said.

The tribunal said the smattering of administrative and mathematical errors in thousands of polling places were not acts of "bad faith" and did not merit throwing out the results of those polling places.

"This tribunal can say to the citizenry that their votes were counted fairly," said magistrate Fernando Ojesto. "We have followed the principle of one man, one vote, and of effective suffrage."

The jurists also rebuked the López Obrador campaign, saying it had failed to provide concrete evidence of irregularities in the thousands of challenged precincts where it had claimed fraud.

"The plaintiff says there are multiple irregularities in a large number of precincts or in this or that district," said tribunal President Leonel Castillo, referring to the López Obrador campaign. "Well, that `large number' is not enough. The law says you must specify evidence and facts."

The tribunal has until Sept. 6 to name the winner of the election. Political tension and uncertainty have gripped Mexico for weeks, with López Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) threatening to make the country ungovernable if Calderón becomes president.

Both candidates made only brief remarks about the ruling.

López Obrador told supporters "I was expecting it."

Calderón said the ruling would "eliminate the insidious doubts" his opponents "want to spread among the citizenry."

Earlier this month, the court ordered about 4 million votes recounted but declined the PRD's demand to recount all 41 million votes.

López Obrador, the 53-year-old former Mayor of Mexico City, led in most of the final polls a week before the election. Analysts say Calderón made up ground on his rival with a sophisticated media campaign that portrayed the leftist as a dangerous radical who would bankrupt the country.

Outside the tribunal's headquarters, a small number of López Obrador backers protested the ruling, chanting, "The people voted! Obrador won!"

Thousands of supporters of the leftist candidate have occupied much of this capital city's central avenue, Paseo de la Reforma, since July 30, tying up traffic and enraging commuters. They have said they will remain in place during Mexico's patriotic celebrations on Sept. 15 and 16.

"Everything indicates that (Calderón) will be imposed as president," said Leonel Cota, national leader of the PRD.

López Obrador said on Sunday that a Calderón presidency would amount to a "virtual coup d'etat" and called on his followers to form either a parallel government or a national movement of "peaceful civil disobedience."

Hundreds of López Obrador's supporters also are occupying the city's main plaza, the Zócalo, where Lopez Obrador has said he will hold a "National Assembly" on Sept. 16, Mexico's Independence Day.

Fox has said he will defy the leftist protesters and deliver his traditional Independence Day "yell" in the Zocalo on the night of Sept. 15.

On Monday, President Fox made his strongest public condemnation yet of López Obrador and the blockades.

"We can't allow personal ambitions to place at risk the most valuable thing the Mexican people have built -- our laws and institutions," Fox told a meeting of fishermen in the northern state of Tamaulipas. "Society has rejected time and again the path of violence, division and confrontation."

Calderón, a 44-year-old former energy secretary under Fox and a longtime activist in the National Action Party, has kept a low profile in recent weeks.

On Monday, National Action Party leaders said the tribunal's ruling was a step forward for Mexico's democratic institutions.

"We have said from the beginning that we will respect the decision of the tribunal," said Juan Molinar Horcasitas, a party spokesman. "All the arguments that have been made about to question the cleanliness of this election have been collapsing one by one."

  

[StJacques]

There is a near complete meltdown among the PRD and their leftist allies in Mexico City right now. The PRD says that "annulling the election is the only way out of a political crisis now." The legislative delegation of the party is refusing to show up for quorum calls in the preliminary sessions of the national legislature so that no floor speakers can be elected and they are attempting to convince the PRI, the PVEM (Green Party), and Neuva Alianza to join with them to prevent the PAN party from getting the Speaker's job in the lower house of the legislature. The PRD also refuses to send any of its party representatives to the customary "courtesy delegation" that accompanies the President (Vicente Fox) to the podium when he delivers his (State of the Union equivalent) national address to the Mexican Congress on September 1. And AMLO is still down in the Zocalo shouting that he and his followers will set up a parallel leftist government and that they are acting constitutionally under Article 39 of the Mexican Constitution.

So there you have it. Tempers are very very hot among the PRD right now.

[StJacques]

A Mex-Elex ping for you all.

I have more details to provide from Mexican sources, but I've got to cut my grass before the sun goes down, while it's a little cooler outside. Back in an hour or so.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the post.....

[BenLurkin]

"This tribunal can say to the citizenry that their votes were counted fairly,"

So what? It didn't stop the whiners in 2000.

[Rhetorical pi2]

Get Algore and John Kerry Heinz out of Mexico!!

It's over guys!! Over!

[Enterprise]

OK - looking forward to it!!

[gridlock]

But, but, but... We didn't win, therefore it MUST be fraud. After all, the People love us so much more than those other guys!

[Dog Gone]

Definitely bears watching. When lefties go bezerk, it always turns out badly.

[South40]

[spinestein]

[The nation's top electoral court announced Monday that a partial recount of the votes in the disputed presidential election found no evidence of widespread fraud...

The jurists also rebuked the López Obrador campaign, saying it had failed to provide concrete evidence of irregularities in the thousands of challenged precincts where it had claimed fraud....

Political tension and uncertainty have gripped Mexico for weeks, with López Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) threatening to make the country ungovernable if Calderón becomes president....

Earlier this month, the court ordered about 4 million votes recounted but declined the PRD's demand to recount all 41 million votes....

Thousands of supporters of the leftist candidate have occupied much of this capital city's central avenue, Paseo de la Reforma, since July 30, tying up traffic and enraging commuters....
"Everything indicates that (Calderón) will be imposed as president," said Leonel Cota, national leader of the PRD....López Obrador said on Sunday that a Calderón presidency would amount to a "virtual coup d'etat" and called on his followers to form either a parallel government or a national movement of "peaceful civil disobedience."]




It's just amazing to me how much of this is taken right from our 2000 election. Candidate A wins the election but candidate B is a sore loser so he screams "fraud" without any evidence whatsoever and demands that the courts start recounting votes using a different standard more favorable to him, though prohibited by law. He then gets his fanatic supporters to start protesting in the streets in an effort to disrupt daily life for average citizens and promises that if his opponent becomes the president, it won't be legitimate and no one should accept him.

I'm convinced that the Mexican PRD has purposely copied this plan of action from our Democratic Party and will continue to do so throughout Calderón's presidency. Now we can only wait with anticipation for the inevitable cries (in Spanish) of "IT'S ALL CALDERON'S FAULT!"

[Graymatter]

shouting that he and his followers will set up a parallel leftist government and that they are acting constitutionally under Article 39 of the Mexican Constitution.

Eh? I'd have thought it called for getting stood up against a wall and offered a smoke. Must check my copy of the Mexican Constitution...

[ladyinred]

They don't have to make a case. They will just whine during the entire term of the duly elected government claiming they were robbed, cheated, etc. The left has a game plan they work all over the world now. Wait until our election!

[Valin]

So when does the civil war start?

[Codename - Ron Benjamin]

"Article 39" doesn't apply. It's Lopez again on the delusion of "The people is Me". Said article reads something like "the goverment comes from the people", and, as a good commie, AMLO says that the people can't possibly desire anyting besides him.

[StJacques]

". . . I'm convinced that the Mexican PRD has purposely copied this plan of action from our Democratic Party and will continue to do so throughout Calderón's presidency. . . ."

I keep rolling the idea around in my head to research what role if any American lefties may be playing in this entire affair. I'm serious about that, because what I really wonder is whether the Dem activists have formed ties with Cuban, Venezuelan, and Bolivian activists who have been proven to be active on Lopez Obrador's behalf in this recent presidential election.

". . . Now we can only wait with anticipation for the inevitable cries (in Spanish) of "IT'S ALL CALDERON'S FAULT!""

That would be translated as ¡TODO ES LA CULPA DE CALDERóN!

[Reaganez]

"Analysts say Calderón made up ground on his rival with a sophisticated media campaign that portrayed the leftist as a dangerous radical who would bankrupt the country. "

THANKS DICK MORRIS !!!

You make yourself usefull every once in a while!

[FlingWingFlyer]

Looks like Hugo Chavez is going to have to find himself a new butt boy.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

The left has a game plan they work all over the world now.

Yes. In the words of Frederick Douglas, it's called "Agitate. Agitate. Agitate."

Agitation is OK if the agitators have morality on their side. Regarding the totalitarian Left, this is certainly not the case. Thus, a proper response should be "You are under arrest. You are under arrest. You are under arrest."

[Shuttle Shucker]

Let's not forget the gains Calderon made when:

*it became clearer that immigration amnesty wouldn't be possible this term, and Mexico would have to solve more of its problems; and soon thereafter:

*ObraGore intentionally didn't even show up for the first (of two) debates... There would have been more but ObraGore didn't want 'em.

Mexicans noticed...

Felipe slipped because of allegations involving his brother-in-law right before the elections, but as Bush rebounded despite the late-announced DUI news, Felipe came through. ObraGore will need a straightjacket to stay out of the way though...It's too profitable for him to keep whining. The PRD doesn't seem to care that it's burning bridges that it will need later. Since when did Leftists think about the long term consequences of their emotion-based actions?

[Shuttle Shucker]

Even the New York Times is finally telling ObraGore to cool it!

http://www.el-universal.com.mx/notas/371658.html

Meanwhile, TRIFE ruled against Gorebrador 7-0. Not even a divided court...

Isn't it sad how much ObraGoreLoserman has cost Mexico in foreign investment? Here are some examples in the real estate industry:

http://www.el-universal.com.mx/notas/371733.html

[norton]

"..shouting that he and his followers will set up a parallel leftist government.."

It's only been partially successful for the democrats - but they're still working to perfect it.

[StJacques]

Okay, now for some expanded notes, sorry I couldn't get these up earlier.

The PRD are just going off the deep end in their anger and are promising to make the country ungovernable. It is a downright outrage to see the terms in which they are speaking.

As I mentioned earlier, the first actual salvos of what the new government will be like have been fired by the PRD delegation in the new Mexican congress. Earlier today they refused to attend a meeting of the lower house (the Chamber of Deputies) so that they could elect the more or less ceremonial post of the Mesa Directiva (the Directive Desk), which chairs joint sessions of the Mexican congress and is directly responsible for receiving the President's Annual Address, similar to the State of the Union, as well as the ceremonial investiture of the new President when he assumes the powers of his office. The PRD was attempting to convince the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) and the PVEM (Green Party) to join with them and their allies in electing a PRD candidate to the post, which would have been an unheard-of event for a minority party to hold the position. It didn't work, and the PRD was accused of attempting to harass the presidency by seeking the position so as to permit them to torpedo the presidential address and the presidential investiture as protest acts.

So what is now happening -- you can all stand up and cheer when reading this if you like -- is that the PAN and the PRI, who were near mortal enemies throughout the five and a half years of Fox's presidency, are coming together in an obvious alliance to stop the PRD. They manage to force a quorum call in the Chamber of Deputies and Jorge Zermeño of the PAN party was elected to the position. The PAN (206 votes) was joined by the PRI (107 votes) and Nueva Alianza (no number given) giving them two more votes than required to win. Calderon sent a very friendly letter to the PRI deputies, which must have really angered the PRD, and the PRI leader in the Chamber of Deputies has issued a call for 'tolerance' surrounding early debates in the Chamber, which seems to bode well for the future. But the PRD warned that they would assure the 'ingovernability' of the Chamber of Deputies if they were not given control of the Mesa Directiva and, after they were denied it, they followed up with a new warning that 'Calderon's dream of governing will be a nightmare'. In the Mexican Senate things went a lot more smoothly as they apparently elected top leaders without too much difficulty. That was the kind of day it was for the new Mexican congress.

Without giving links I will also tell you that attention is very rapidly shifting to Fox's upcoming Sept. 1 address. The new PAN leader of the Mesa Directiva has requested that the police presence around the legislative grounds be maintained, which angered the PRD even more, and it was announced that President Vicente Fox will arrive that evening by bus with an armed escort. I view all of this as the first signs of what could become a violent clash and I'm going to keep an eye on it because the PRD is just livid over what has gone down these past two days with the Electoral Tribunal and the organizing of the new Mexican congress.

There was some minor news from the Electoral Tribunal as it requested some undescribed documents from the various presidential campaigns in preparation for its final decision on the validity of the election. I'm guessing they're going to wait until after Fox's September 1 address to make their decision known. But they did announce which magistrates are handling the process.

And international opinion has been coming down hard on AMLO. The New York Times called on AMLO to restrain his protestors. Will wonders never cease? I'd like to find that editorial when I get the time. As Shuttle Shucker put up on the earlier thread, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States said they will only recognize the President named by the Electoral Tribunal as Mexico's legitimate President.

A major union which supported Lopez Obrador's presidential candidacy, the National Union of Laborers, disavowed AMLO's protest approach today, though they said they still supported the agenda he campaigned on. They are not a small union, and this represents the second major union, after the CROC, to defect from AMLO since he began his protests.

Finally; we are seeing the early signs of what may become a very significant showdown between the PRD-controlled Federal District Government in Mexico City and the Federal Government over the plans for the September 16 Independence Day celebrations at their usual spot in the Zocalo capital plaza, which not coincidentally is when and where AMLO has called for his "National Democratic Convention" to convene. I posted a couple of days ago that Vicente Fox has thrown down the gauntlet on this saying that the celebrations would be held in the usual manner and promising that he would not let anyone steal this celebration "from all Mexicans." Well AMLO has gone on saying that the celebration will still be held in the Zocalo. Today, Alejandro Encinas, the PRD Head of Government in Mexico City, called on President Vicente Fox to consider relocating the Independence Day ceremonies. I'm going to watch this very closely, because my reading of Vicente Fox's words suggests that he is not going to take "no" for an answer. And for anyone who may not remember what I posted about all that, the Mexican armed forces have made clear that they fully intend to hold their celebrations in the center of Mexico City, as always. So expect to see more on this.

[norton]

"You are under arrest. You are under arrest. You are under arrest."

Yeah,
it's a shame that asking if they want a cigarette with their blindfold is so un-PC.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Break the law go to jail. You have a problem with that?

[norton]

My problem is with PC,
not the rest of it;
We're talking about mexico after all.

(I take it you come by your nom-de-FR by the direct route)

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

So far, your argument makes no sense. Sorry.

[norton]

Thanks Jack,
your summaries are vital,and I'm still expecting something of a shoot-out.

Just wondering which side the drug trade will put the most support behind.

[StJacques]

"Just wondering which side the drug trade will put the most support behind."

For most of the drug dealers, "all politics is local," so they're on the outside of this debate.

But I did post something a couple of days ago with information that the ex-Venezuelan Ambassador to Mexico was expelled by the Fox Administration for meddling in Mexican politics, he funneled aid to Lopez Obrador and Marcelo Ebrard, who is the incoming PRD Head of Government in Mexico City's Federal District, and included in the details of all of that is that he helped to form ties between some Mexican guerrilla groups and the Colombian FARC. The FARC are MAJOR players in the cocaine trade. Our government says they are the most significant terrorist threat in this hemisphere because they are so well-funded. So if the FARC is in the game, the only drug interests who will take part will support AMLO.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

PS: Arguments work. Ad hominem attacks reveal a certain lack of horsepower, wouldn't you agree?

[Marine_Uncle]

Sort of shades of USA 2000. Frigen liberals just don't know when they should shut the hell up and hide in a hole.

[norton]

Someone's arguing?

[norton]

Someone's arguing?

[StJacques]

Ping.

[A CA Guy]

Thanks for the information.

On a personal note, nice work StJ, you covered this whole issue really well.

[Reaganez]

I guess we can add the NY Times to the vast international right wing conspiracy that includes the EU,Prime Minister Zapatero of the Spanish Workers Socialist Party,Organization of American States, every international poll observer save for the Cali-Commie Global exchange, Mexican TV, Mexican Newspapers, the 30% of PRD poll watchers that signed off on the election in their local polling stations, Jumex(Juice Co), and Sabritas(Snacks Co).

[Kenny Bunk]

Dear Coquille,

Let's try and get the MSM to pay attention to FARC, which means a hell of a lot more to us than the street insurgents in Iraq (IMHO), in that there is an obvious alliance between them and Chavez.

Also FARC has de facto control of an incredibly rich country the size of Switzerland, with oil, gold, and cocaine, to continually enrich temselves as they fund all sorts of CHICOM-inspired mayhem.

Speaking of defacto control, the CHICOM now have it over the South End of the Caribbean. Panama, FARC, Venezuela, maybe Guyana and Trinidad.

Kinda gives one nostalgia for the old Monroe Doctrine, does it not?

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Certainly not you. If you need a refresher, go back to my first post, which was quite clear about the tactyics of the Left vis a vis free elections (no matter where they occur) and your subsequent responses. You posted two nonsensical smart-ass comments and two ad hominems. There was an argument, and you lost handily.

[Shuttle Shucker]

In related news, as if it's the USA's responsibility to clean up the mess even as Mexicans still won't adequately stand up to their own Leftist malaise, several well-attended marches are planned in major U.S. Cities during the next week or two in favor of immigration amnesty:

http://www.el-universal.com.mx/notas/371846.html

Somehow I doubt any of them will even address how flagrantly racist Mexico's immigration laws are in comparison to our own:

http://www.directory.com.mx/immigration

[Shuttle Shucker]

In related news, as if it's the USA's responsibility to clean up the mess even as Mexicans still won't adequately stand up to their own Leftist malaise, several well-attended marches are planned in major U.S. Cities during the next week or two in favor of immigration amnesty:

http://www.el-universal.com.mx/notas/371846.html

Somehow I doubt any of them will even address how flagrantly racist Mexico's immigration laws are in comparison to our own:

http://www.directory.com.mx/immigration

[Shuttle Shucker]

I think we all have bigger concerns on the horizon than ad hominem attacks amongst ourselves. As if it's the USA's responsibility to clean up the mess even as Mexicans still won't adequately stand up to their own Leftist malaise, several well-attended marches are planned in major U.S. Cities during the next week or two in favor of immigration amnesty:

http://www.el-universal.com.mx/notas/371846.html

Somehow I doubt any of them will even address how flagrantly racist Mexico's immigration laws are in comparison to our own:

http://www.directory.com.mx/immigration

[shield]

Thanks for the update. Will be cking back...

[phillyfanatic]

Wait till John F. Kerry sees this article. Off to Mexico City he will go. Hope he stays permanently.

[StJacques]

"Let's try and get the MSM to pay attention to FARC, which means a hell of a lot more to us than the street insurgents in Iraq (IMHO), in that there is an obvious alliance between them and Chavez."

I actually have posted quite a bit about the FARC on this board. I'm really not sure just how much of this you are aware of because I have no idea just how closely you may have followed my ongoing comments about Lopez Obrador and the newly-formed ties he has effected between the Mexican Left and the larger Latin American Left; including Cuban, Venezuelan, and Bolivian connections, the expulsion of the Venezuelan Ambassador to Mexico for meddling in the presidential campaign and the investigation of the Mexican federal government into whether he was putting Mexican rebels in touch with the FARC. You can pop up this post from another thread to see some of what I posted on this issue.

Now as to the connections between the FARC and Chavez. I don't think anyone is more concerned about this than I am. I lived for a year in Colombia and I have seen the damage the FARC can do first-hand. I translated an article from a Colombian newspaper recently in which the FARC released a public statement in support of Chavez. Here is the thread link:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1672227/posts

I would especially like to recommend my posts #17 and #19 in that thread to you if I may. I also wish I could remember where I had an exchange with livius, a Freeper who is very well-informed about the South American Left, on the specifics of what I saw of the FARC in Colombia. So I'll just recapitulate the story here in brief.

I once visited the southern Colombian city of Popayan, where I was taken to the northeast of the city to the site of what had once been a prosperous agricultural cooperative created with money from the Colombian government to assist poor cattle farmers in the region by providing them with barns, veterinary services, feeding stations and the like so as to permit them to graze their cattle on the "public range" (ganado publico) in the foothills of one of the Andean ridge systems nearby. What I saw was a group of burned-out buildings and some lumpy mounds of earth in which a mass burial of cattle had recently been effected, all because of the FARC, who attacked and destroyed the cooperative because they said the Colombian government was "exploiting the peasants," in requiring them to pay back some of the money used to build the infrastructure. And I was also told that several "agricultural agents" of the Colombian government who were there and in the region to help these farmers were killed by the FARC as well. I'll never forget those sights as long as I live. It's the practice of "Miserification" I have come to learn is the standard of the Latin American Left. livius has some stories of his own to tell in this regard as well, especially about the Left in Bolivia.

So rest assured Kenny Bunk that I am paying attention to the FARC and I do not intend to diminish any perception of the real threat they represent.

One final comment here. I'm going to guess that you do not speak French. I make this supposition because it is likely that, if you did, you would have understood what it means to call me "Coquille." Relax, I take no offense here because I am convinced you had no idea that, in using that name for me, you were -- how should I put this? -- questioning my manly appreciation of women, which I will assure you and everyone else is profound. I doubt you intended that, but I'm just mentioning this for future reference. I'm sure there was no harm intended.

[Kenny Bunk]

You have ruined Coquilles St. Jacques for me forever!

I shall still drink the wine however, attempting to drown my sorrows that I did not penetrate the argot more thoroughly during my French studies.

I did get a higher grade than John F. Kerry, but apparently not high enough. Desolé. And I shall follow your FARC threads very closely.

As you can tell, I am dazed and amazed that this is going unnoticed on a public level in this country. Surely not even the most nincompoopial of leftists cannot describe FARC as "Freedom Fighters."

[StJacques]

Don't sweat the French language Kenny Bunk. Basically a Coquette is a flirtatious young girl and a Coquille is a flirtatious male _________.

Now; back to the FARC. Did you know that the FARC has their own American-based, and very slick, web site? I was shocked when I found this out. Why not just let Al-Qaeda, the Cali Cartel, and the Zetas open up their own sites too while we're at it?

http://www.farcep.org/

  

[Shuttle Shucker]

Hopefully these folks are right about ObraGore's intentions?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060830-095243-9776r.htm

[Kenny Bunk]

I checked out the link to FARC, Jacques.

I was impressed with it's classical, somewhat dated Euro-Marxist Revolutionary prose! Someone who escaped the Red-Brigade-Bader-Meinhof round-up must be running this the communications program. Terrorists with a very retail cyber-presence. WTF next?

Damned scary

[StJacques]

Did you notice this quote from the article you linked?

". . . The survey also showed that 68 percent rejected any calls to civil disobedience by the PRD, and 69 percent were against Mr. Lopez Obrador's call for a national convention on Sept. 16, Mexico's independence day. . . ."

Regarding the general thrust of the article, I do agree that AMLO is trying to prevent his own marginalization as an "ex-presidential candidate." But I think there is also a good bit of personal "payback" involved here. It is my clear opinion that AMLO is ready to punish the entire country for not giving him the presidency. And I do not expect him to be the dominant force in the PRD five years from now when their next presidential campaign gets started.

[StJacques]

"I checked out the link to FARC, Jacques.

I was impressed with it's classical, somewhat dated Euro-Marxist Revolutionary prose!"

Latin America is the last bastion of the old "true believers" in traditonal Marxism-Leninism. That's one of the reasons why they're so dangerous. They see themselves as "leaders of the world revolution" now. They are scary.

[Shuttle Shucker]

A friend in Mexico City who sympathizes with the PRD (sigh...) says Mexico City's newly elected governor is the frontrunner for the 2012 PRD presidential nod, not Cardenas Batel of Michoacan. Either way, ObraGore can read the writing on the walls...he's history if he can't get what he wants now. Your punishment of the nation theory makes sense....SIGH... Hopefully he'll take the Left down with him so Mexico can enact long overdue reforms.