"Today we proved that our democracy is mature." So said the outgoing President of Mexico, Mr Ernesto Zedillo, as he conceded defeat to his centre-right opponent, Mr Vicente Fox, in the country's landmark presidential election. As the first such shift of power since the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) came to office in 1929 it is therefore a momentous event in Mexico's history. There should be no doubting the honourable role played in it by Mr Zedillo, who is dubbed the "architect of transition" for his willingness to ensure that this was a relatively free and fair contest and that the reins of power would be handed over smoothly if his party lost.
The results from all over Mexico and in several different types of elections confirm the dramatic change. Opinion polls before the voting showed the candidates neck and neck but with 15-20 per cent of Mexico's 58 million voters undecided. Clearly they decided overwhelmingly to opt for Mr Fox, who emerged with a commanding lead over Mr Zedillo. He also defeated the left-wing candidate, Mr Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, into a poor third place, after spending the campaign attacking him for splitting the opposition vote. The PRI have failed to regain a parliamentary majority and have lost two governorships and, once again, the election for mayor of Mexico City. Election observers said the votes were fair and media access and campaign financing more evenly balanced than usual. That is a real achievement in a system so notorious for political corruption and the comprehensive overlap of party and state.
During the 71 years that the PRI has been in power, Mexico has changed from a rural to an urbanised and increasingly industrialised society. The party took over following prolonged civil conflict arising from the Mexican Revolution of 1910-17, in which one million people died. It was able to forge an alliance of peasants, workers and business sectors under the tutelage of a strengthened state during the 1930s depression, based on a sweeping programme of land reform and administrative modernisation.
Those achievements stood well for the party in the post-war period, when urbanisation and industrialisation gathered pace, despite growing corruption and the use of state resources to maintain its hold on power. Gradually new social and economic forces emerged. The PRI regime lost credibility and legitimacy following major financial scandals and currency crises. It also came under growing domestic and international criticism following repressive action against the Chiapas uprising of indigenous peoples.
Mr Fox's victory is very much a product of these changes. Despite the sharp political discontinuity as his National Action Party (PAN) takes over from PRI, there is substantial continuity of policy. Mr Fox is a pro-market reformer pledged to economic growth and more resources for education. He favours closer co-operation with the United States through the North American Free Trade Agreement and has hinted that he would be willing to privatise Mexico's state-owned oil company, a proud symbol of PRI's achievements. Much will depend now on how it responds to this unprecedented loss of power.