Alonso Urrutia and Nestor Jimenez
Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, November 17, 2022, p. 4
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged yesterday that some key points of his plan B
electoral reform, such as the open election of councilors and magistrates and the reduction of Congress, for which he called on Mexicans to defend democracy and a march to the Zócalo on the 27th, which he himself will lead and which will culminate with his four-week report years of government.
In yesterday’s conference, the president indicated that he does not have the support of a qualified majority in Congress to make constitutional changes such as those mentioned. However, he anticipated that he will seek legal reforms for other objectives, such as reducing the cost of elections and reinforcing locks that prevent vote buying, for example with the use of purses that are distributed in campaigns.
How far can I go with the new initiative? Well, only what it means to reform the law
he stressed.
He said that the budget can be reduced so that there are no duplications; he stressed the importance of avoiding vote buying, because the Conservatives
they have “well-gotten and ill-gotten… quite a few billiards; therefore, in the rules the door was left open for this illegal act. Another mechanism is manipulation in the media. And that, even if there is no reform, we are going to continue raising awareness”.
–Save the INE? –She was asked.
“No, no, please.” It was even said before that the Creator squeezes, but does not hang.
López Obrador reversed part of the plan B
who announced the day before and assumed that constitutional changes are required. He considered it very important that in the next elections people are clear that, when voting for the president, they also do so for the legislators of his movement, If you want to have a leader who transforms, who defends the people
.
He emphasized the relevance of changes in the electoral organization: We have to guarantee that there is democracy in Mexico, that it will never again be imposed by fraud on a ruler, because we are not talking about a country where fraud has never or very rarely occurred, but one in which, unfortunately, it has been a constant
.
He considered that many of those who attended the opposition march last Sunday are uninformed and are unaware of the content of the constitutional reform initiative, but in the absence of a qualified majority, I’m watching, without violating the Constitution. I already told you what things cannot be done, but there are possibilities to modify the electoral law, the secondary law, to advance democracy
anticipated.
He mentioned that he polled the people about his original plan of the act for his next Government Report, in which he would detail his new electoral reform proposal without changing the Constitution. And as his thing, he said he, is command obeying
accepted suggestions to change the format and the date, so that it is not on a business day, but on a Sunday, and thus it is easier to attend.
He announced that it will no longer be a rally in the Zócalo on December 1, but a march that he will lead, from the Angel of Independence to the Zócalo, where he will render his report.
-What is the reason?
–The Report, four years of transformation. To also see if people are happy with the change, if we are doing well.
‘Is it a sample of muscle?’
-Nope. In any case, we were going to do the act for the Report, but the march helps. Besides, I’m already getting very gentrifying.
In his long allegation about the controversial electoral organization, he assured that around last Sunday’s march there were many statements based on ignorance of the reform proposal, and also on bad faith.
“Imagine, Fox saying that if I appear on the ticket, ‘I’m going to face it.’ Oops, how scary! But, also, look at the bad faith or ignorance, not to say ignorance. How is he not going to know that an initiative cannot be sent where it is not said that re-election is not allowed? I mean, it’s bad faith, to say the least.”
