The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, questioned on Tuesday the criticisms made by the Council of Europe against his controversial electoral reform, which would replace the autonomous National Electoral Institute (INE).
The president reproached the European body for ruling on his reform project on Monday after it fell silent when he suffered, according to him, electoral fraud in the 2006 and 2012 presidential elections.
“It is good that the Europeans think that so that the legislators take it into account in the debate, but when they did the fraud to us, when they stole our presidency, those Europeans were silent as mummies, they never said anything“, He maintained in his morning press conference.
The Mexican ruler referred to the Venice Commission, a consultative body of the Council of Europe in charge of constitutional issues, which issued its opinion on Monday in response to a demand from the INE in which it develops its reluctance to reform.
The commission pointed out that the reform presented by López Obrador last April “inevitably runs the risk of shattering confidence” and “does not provide sufficient guarantees of independence and impartiality”.
“These opinions are good because I understand that it is going to be discussed in Congress, the electoral reform is going to enter the debate today, so that the legislators take into account all the opinions,” said the questioned president. for the topic.
The reform causes controversy because it would create the National Institute of Elections and Consultations to replace the INE, an autonomous body that emerged to take control of elections from the Government.
It would also eliminate 200 deputies and 32 senators, reduce the financing of political parties, and redefine the concept of “propaganda.” for the Government to pronounce itself during the elections, provisions criticized because they would favor the current party in power.
López Obrador, who last March accused the European Parliament of having a “colonialist mentality” for ruling on the murders of journalists in Mexico, said that in the Council of Europe “they have the right to express themselves.”
“But taking everyone’s opinion into account does not make it one of these European organizations, of all of them, there is no problem,” he conceded.
The president defended one of the most controversial provisions of the reform, which would involve electing by popular vote the councilors of the new electoral institute and the magistrates of the Electoral Court of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF).
The president argued that this is “to guarantee fair and free elections, there are impartial electoral authorities and that these authorities, instead of being appointed by the top echelons of economic and political power, should be elected by the people”.
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