Tens of thousands of people, dressed in white and pink, gathered in the central square of the Zocalo in Mexico City, the largest in Mexico, under the slogan #Hands off my vote. They demonstrated on Sunday against an electoral reform approved by the government which threatens, according to the opposition, the National Electoral Institute (INE) in charge of organizing the next presidential election scheduled for mid-2024.
Definitively approved on Wednesday, the electoral reform reduces the budget and jobs at the INE, which the President of the Republic, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, accuses of having covered up fraud in the past and of costing public finances dearly.
“Key elements (…) of the Mexican electoral system which has allowed the peaceful and periodic renovation of powers through the free and secret ballot may run the risk of being affected”, according to the INE. The INE and the opposition parties have announced an appeal against the reform before the judges of the Supreme Court. “We trust them (…) to preserve the democratic life of the country”, declared a speaker, José Ramon Cossio Diaz, himself a former magistrate at the Supreme Court. He accuses the current president of wanting to “appropriate the electoral system”.
On this subject: In Mexico, the population massively mobilized against the electoral reform project
The reform “is a step backwards for democracy”, told AFP Alejandro Rordiguez, a 61-year-old lawyer, who also came to “protest” against the left-wing president. His policy “harms Mexicans,” he said.
Reform opponents branded ‘corrupt’
A follower of political division, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador described his opponents as “corrupt” who want to return to power. He considered that the demonstrators were also defending the ex-secretary (minister) of Security, Genaro García Luna, who has just been found guilty of drug trafficking by a court in the United States. Genaro Garcia Luna had been a minister under right-wing President Felipe Calderon (2006-2012).
“They come to say: we don’t touch the INE, but also ‘we don’t touch Garcia Luna’ and basically: ‘we don’t touch the corrupt and conservative regime'”, declared Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday. , still popular after more than four years in office.
A first demonstration of the opposition against the reform had gathered on November 13 in the streets of Mexico City tens of thousands of people. Two weeks later, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador mobilized tens of thousands of people in the streets to present the results of his four years in power.