Fox learns how to play ball: signs of greater negotiation with the former ruling party bode well for reform agenda.

As a result of the political storm that led to a strong Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) showing in the July elections, we are witnessing a revitalization of President Fox's government.

As I mentioned in my last column, the electoral results hurt the self-proclaimed "government of change." However, they may also open a new window of opportunity for the president and his team.

Upon taking office, Fox had two goals. The first was to accelerate the nation's political change by pushing the influence of the PRI out of politics and government institutions. The second was to push change more gradually through compromise and accords. In the last three years, decisions were based on both goals. However, a lack of a defined course in how to achieve these goals led to a failure on the part of the administration to make substantial advances.

Still, it's worth noting, that the government has made certain advances, but those results will only be seen in the long term. Administration officials haven't succumbed to the temptation to go after big fish in the name of increasing popularity and stockpiling votes. The government has refused to take short-cuts and has acted in strict accordance with the law, but we will only see the results alter Fox leaves office.

But now there is a new strategy. To combat the PRI, the Fox administration will push an agenda that does not depend on congressional approval, is not anti-priista and responds to social demands. Anti-corruption policies, improved training of public employees and crime fighting figure prominently in the new strategy.

The second route the administration plans to take is negotiation, primarily with the PRI, which has a plurality in both congressional houses. Fox seems to have finally made some clear decisions about his relationship with the PRI and other political parties, including his own National Action Party (PAN).

Fox didn't cave in to the intense pressure to make broad changes in his Cabinet or adjust his governing style. In addition, Interior Secretary Santiago Creel has been quick to promote the main points of the legislative agenda and has already met with new congressional leaders in fire Chamber of Deputies. Creel is currently pushing two sets of reforms: structural, such as fiscal, labor and electricity reforms, and institutional, including the proposed re-election of legislators and changing the "rules of the game."

Though this fine of negotiation is hardly news, it does show that the government is now willing to compromise with the PRI and has made concrete decisions about how it wants to work.

A PRIISTA MOVES UP

In recent weeks, Fox decided to put his personal assistant, Alfonso Durazo, in charge of his public relations staff. With this change, the president not only eliminated an internal conflict within his Cabinet that prevented messages from being clearly transmitted to different political actors, but the move also brings the administration closer to the PRI and gives it an advantage in upcoming negotiations.

Durazo was a member of the PRI and is one of Fox's closest advisers. With Rodolfo Elizondo, a panista, out of that position--and out of the president's inner circle--the faction of the PAN that disapproves of tighter relations with the PRI has lost some influence.

Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, who was a key figure in relations between the PAN and the administration of Carlos Salinas de Gortari, has become a regular visitor to Los Pinos.

With this new strategy, Fox's administration should finally be able to move forward on pending reforms. Perhaps by the time you read this column, some reforms will have been approved in Congress' extraordinary session. This would have a favorable impact on the president's annual address to the legislature this month.

Some say Fox's adjustments show he has succumbed to the power of the PRI, but I believe it's too early to make that judgement. In the face of a new political landscape, Fox's administration is showing pragmatism, which should pay off during the rest of the president's term.

Joel Estudillo Rendon is a member of the board of the Mexican Institute for Political Studies.