INE leaves Alito’s re-election in suspense; it turns the matter over to the TEPJF

Fabiola Martinez and Lilian Hernandez

The newspaper La Jornada
Friday, September 13, 2024, p. 6

In a split vote (seven to four), the General Council of the National Electoral Institute (INE) chose not to validate the constitutionality of the PRI’s statutory reforms, arguing that they were approved before the federal electoral process concluded.

Therefore, changes to the basic documents of the tricolor which allowed, among other things, the re-election of Alejandro Moreno (Alito) as president of the party, and in light of the challenge by those affected, the matter will be resolved by the higher chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPJF).

One of the repercussions of the agreement issued yesterday by the INE, which was limited to declaring the impossibility of ruling on the verification of compliance with the statutory procedure and the constitutional and legal origin of the modificationsis that it does not make its scope clear.

Advisors consulted said that Alito He may temporarily continue to lead the PRI, but not because of the statutory reform of July 7, nor as a result of this INE resolution, but rather because of an extension granted by the TEPJF last May, which gave him a period of up to 60 days, after the conclusion of the PEF, that is, the party must have a new leadership no later than next November 20, if the electoral process is considered to have ended on August 28.

Councilors Dania Ravel, Arturo Castillo, Uuc-kib Espadas, Claudia Zavala, Jaime Rivera, Rita Bell López and Martín Faz voted in favor of the project that marks that impossibilityarguing that the reform to the PRI’s basic documents violates the provisions of Article 34 of the General Law of Political Parties, specifically relating to the fact that they cannot change their statutes once the federal process has begun.

The interpretation given by the majority of the councillors indicates that although the PRI could have started its reform at any time, its conclusion should have been after August 28.

Faced with the different versions that circulated yesterday, the INE had to clarify in a statement that The approved resolution does not issue a statement regarding the election of the national leadership and the executive secretary of the PRI CEN, since the law on the matter establishes that once the militancy exhausts the party means of defense, it will be able to go before the competent electoral authority..

In the session, Castillo made it clear that it is about applying a legal criterion and not political inferences; in turn, Espadas affirmed that the reform of the tricolor It was given outside the legal time allowed and, therefore, the INE cannot declare it valid.

The president of the institute, Guadalupe Taddei, spoke out against it, along with Carla Humphrey, Norma de la Cruz and Jorge Montaño, who stressed the need to make an interpretation that guarantees the rights of self-organization and self-determination of the party.

Above all, Taddei warned that with the approval of the project in reference, the INE I would be resigning its obligation to review the modifications to the basic documents and declare their constitutional and legal origin. Considering that its verification is unnecessary, the consequence is that the PRI is not given certainty about what will happen with all the legal acts it has already carried out.said.

The original draft, prepared by the technical department (Privileges and Political Parties Department), indicated that for these purposes the electoral process concluded with the election day of June 2. Later, the commission rejected this premise and ordered the preparation of another document, in the terms voted yesterday.

The PRI representatives to the INE, Emilio Suárez Licona and Marcela Guerra, accused that the agreement annuls the PRI’s right to self-organization and self-determination, through a restrictive, excessive, discretionary and biased interpretation.

Suárez pointed out that the criteria were inconsistent, with gaps in arguments, a lack of exhaustiveness and constructed in a decontextualized manner; in addition, the law was applied selectively, because Morena was allowed to modify its statutes during the 2018 electoral process. Guerra reproached them for affecting the party system and the leadership of the PRI.