Fox prefers conciliation: Abascal tapped to take over at Interior Secretariat.

On June 1, Interior Secretary Santiago Creel publicly announced his resignation and declared his intent to become the PAN's nominee for president. The following day, President Vicente Fox made an announcement that will be critical in the final 17 months of his administration.

The president selected Labor Secretary Carlos Abascal--a conservative and loyal PANista--to succeed Creel.

Several names had been bandied about as potential interior secretary, but only two received serious consideration. Public Security Secretary Ramon Martin Huerta had been state government secretary during Fox's term as governor of Guanajuato, while Abascal had served as president of the powerful business organization Coparmex (Confederacion Patronal Mexicana).

The choice of Martin Huerta would have been seen as a Fox strategy to harden the government's position with regard to political leaders in an effort to ensure stability through the remainder of his term. Abroad, the interpretation likely would have been that Fox intended to focus more on public security and fighting criminal organizations.

The selection of Abascal delivers the message that the president has opted to be conciliatory in hopes that negotiation will guarantee public stability. Abascal has demonstrated a gift for negotiation without antagonizing his counterparts. His role in preventing strikes at the Social Security Institute and at Aeromexico are evidence of his abilities.

Even before stepping into the public sector, his efforts as president of Coparmex in hammering out an agreement with hardliner Fidel Velazquez and his Confederacion de Trabajadores de Mexico (CTM) was a major step in modernizing the country's labor-management relations just as the economy was opening up.

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A Nod To The PAN

With this designation, President Fox also appeased his party by replacing Creel with a PAN stalwart. Equally important is that Abascal is a PANista without connection to any of the candidates campaigning to be the PAN nominee in next year's presidential race. So Abascal's loyalty should exclusively focus on Fox's aims.

Abascal should also go a long way in quieting worries in the business sector that the campaign will generate economic uncertainty. The new interior secretary's professional pedigree guarantees there will be cooperation between the private sector and the Fox government.

Topping the political agenda for Abascal is public security, negotiations to ensure political stability, support for electoral authorities, and preventing the PAN nomination battle from poisoning the administration's agenda.

Creel Under Microscope

Without doubt, public security will be a point of contention. However, it must be recognized that the Interior Secretariat was stripped of considerable resources and responsibilities when the Secretariat of Public Security was established over four years ago. Abascal's legitimacy will be determined by the political decorum displayed throughout the election process.

No doubt Creel will experience plenty of criticism over the next few weeks as his performance as interior secretary is dissected and evaluated. The first reviews show an inclination to regard his record as negative, especially since he proved incapable of forging the alliances necessary to win passage of much-needed structural reform in Congress.

Creel's primary opponents will try to take advantage of this situation to narrow his current lead, but Creel's support within the PAN is quite strong (a May poll showed Creel with 66 percent support within the party, compared to 26 percent for his closest challenger, former Energy Secretary Felipe Calderon).

Joel Estudillo Rendon is a member of the board of the Instituto Mexicano de Estudios Politicos.