Fabiola Martinez
Newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, August 17, 2022, p. eleven
Although members of the general council of the National Electoral Institute (INE) affirm that their budget plan for the coming year is 1.7 percent lower than the current one, in the respective draft there are no forecasts of cuts or mergers in the current structure.
For example, they keep institutional portfolio of projects
as different objectives are called, which could eventually be compacted into offices that deal with similar issues.
The national electoral arbitrator has the Technical Unit for Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination, as well as another for Transparency and Data Protection, which together add up to an expense of 74 million pesos this year.
But at the same time, in the section on the institutional portfolio of projects
there is a line dedicated to strengthen democratic culture, gender equality and inclusion
, with a budget of 98 million; a so-called strengthen administrative management and evaluation and culture of public service
for almost 500 million pesos, and another with the aim of strengthen access to information and protection of personal data
whose current expenditure is 37 million.
In the preliminary draft that will be submitted to a vote by the general council next Monday (to later send it to the Chamber of Deputies for analysis), the trusts are not touched either: one to attend to labor liabilities and another for the real estate infrastructure program, which election officials defend at all costs.
The INE highlights that trusts are not illegal. Additionally, it does not value the possibility of reducing its workforce (18,000 workers) and less the salaries of the operational staff or its managers; only the 11 directors earn more than 200 thousand pesos per month.
To support the foregoing –and other aspects of spending–, the body argues that the Constitution provides that The INE will have the budgetary, technical, human and material resources it requires to carry out its duties.
.
For 2023 it does not touch the tasks of strengthen administrative management and evaluation and culture of public service
nor the budget level dedicated to strengthen the mechanisms for updating registration processes
nor the one for strengthen equity and legality in the political party system
.
As reported the day before, the INE prepared a draft for 2023 consisting of a base budget
of 11 thousand 769.7 million pesos and a institutional portfolio of projects
for 2 thousand 669.8 million, to add 14 thousand 439 million.
It programmed 4 thousand 25 million pesos, in case it is decided to carry out a popular consultation, a resource that it would return if it is not carried out, but it does not touch the ordinary expenses or the benefits to the directors, to mention some items that are defended as labor rights, legal and constitutional, also regulated by internal rules.
