After the Joint Committees on Constitutional Matters and Legislative Studies approved the opinion on the reform bill on Sunday, the national leader of the PRI, Alejandro Moreno, surrounded by all the senators, reaffirmed his commitment to reject the changes to the Constitution in judicial matters, as proposed by Morena and its allies.
Moreno said that in Mexico’s recent history “never have opposition legislators been so threatened as now” and that these threats have been made to force PRI members – and legislators from other parties – to vote for the reform or to be absent from the session.
If one or more opposition senators were absent, the threshold of votes needed for Morena and its allies to achieve the qualified majority required for changes to the Constitution to be valid would be reduced: it would no longer be 86 senators, but 85.
That is why “Alito” assured that the 15 PRI senators will vote against it and in fact a video was released in which the legislators made the commitment to attend and reject the judicial form proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on February 5.
“To provide conditions of stability in these hours for our legislators and the people of Mexico, all PRI senators will be present, we will be gathered together, in the same place, even staying overnight as many days as necessary. Thus, the 15 senators and their 15 alternates will be together for any eventuality,” Moreno said.
He said that this is an extreme situation, but necessary “in the face of so many threats and persecution,” and he even held the government responsible “for any misfortune that might happen” to the senators or their families.
