Reform promoted by the left to weaken the electoral body generates indignation in Mexico

Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans took to the streets of the capital, Mexico City, and other cities this Sunday (26) to protest against a reform promoted by leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known as AMLO) that jeopardizes the functioning of the body that holds elections in the country.

Last week, the Mexican Legislature approved an electoral reform that, under the justification of cutting costs, will reduce the budget of the National Electoral Institute (INE), which would mean eliminating 85% of its career cadres and 300 district boards from the organ.

The law will also generate other damages to the autonomous body, such as limiting the monitoring of electoral propaganda on radio and television and the powers of INE to sanction public officials who express support for candidates.

The mayor of Mexico City informed the newspaper El Universo that around 90,000 people participated in the protest in the capital, but leaders of the National Action Party (PAN, opposition) estimated the presence of more than 500,000 demonstrators.

Ramón Cossío, former minister of the Mexican Supreme Court, said he hopes the court will respond positively to the actions that have been filed to challenge AMLO’s electoral reform. “We trust them
[juízes]in their democratic spirit, in the decision they will take to preserve the democratic life of the country”, he said, during Sunday’s demonstration.

After the protests, AMLO mocked the demonstrators. “They have to mobilize even more people, they have to increase their mobilization capacity”, declared the president, a historical opponent of INE – in 2006, he alleged fraud in the presidential election in which he was defeated by Felipe Calderón.

“They fill the Zócalo [principal praça da Cidade do México]well, yes, but to get the change we fill [a praça] 60 times, and we didn’t just fill it up, we overflowed it [a capacidade do local]”, he claimed, citing demonstrations of support for the government.

The opposition repudiated AMLO’s comments. “No more divisions! López Obrador’s systematic attack against millions of people who defend democracy, freedoms and the INE reveals his authoritarianism, his intention to impose his vision as the only truth and his contempt for human rights”, said Marko Cortés, leader of the PAN.

The fear of critics of the law, called Electoral Plan B because an initial proposal to affect the INE had been rejected by the Mexican Parliament last year, is that it will end independence and fairness in carrying out and monitoring electoral processes in Mexico.

The country had a long history of fraud in elections until the creation of the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) in 1990, which six years later disassociated itself from the Executive Branch. Afterwards, the agency became INE, which also took care of local elections and not just federal ones.

On Twitter, Ambassador Brian Nichols, Deputy Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the US State Department, expressed concern about the changes proposed by AMLO and approved by the Mexican Legislature.

“In Mexico, today we see a great debate about electoral reforms that test the independence of electoral and judicial institutions. The United States supports independent electoral institutions that have the resources to strengthen democratic processes and the rule of law,” said Nichols.