The Council of Europe is particularly severe with the electoral reform project in Mexico due to the risk of questioning a system that has won the trust of the different parties involved and because the new control bodies do not offer guarantees.
The Venice Commission, a consultative body of the Council of Europe in charge of constitutional issues, issued its opinion on Monday in response to a demand from the National Electoral Institute of Mexico (INE), in which it develops its many reluctance to the reform.
“Modify a system that works well in general and that enjoys the confidence of the different parties after several electoral cycles and years of democratic evolution, it inevitably runs the risk of that trust being shaken”, he points out.
He insists that the constitutional changes that have been proposed “they do not provide sufficient guarantees on the independence and impartiality” of the National Institute of Elections and Consultations (INEC), which would replace the current INE, nor of the judges of the Electoral Court.
In the first place, because the appointment of the members of these two bodies by direct suffrage is foreseen when that “is not in accordance with international standards and with good practices in the electoral field.”
The appointment of its components -according to the Venice Commission- should be based on “professional criteria”. In addition, the objective has to be to offer “a balanced representation of all political forces“, on the basis of strict or proportional equality.
He openly criticizes the proposal to centralize the electoral administration with the start-up of bodies with non-permanent personnel in the entities and at the local level, since this may undermine the confidence of the voters in its operation.
Specifically, if a proportional system with 32 constituencies is implemented, the INEC’s capacity to intervene during the process of fixing the lists by the political parties would be “very limited” taking into account the powers that would be attributed to it.
In addition, the suppression of electoral management bodies at lower levels and the creation of specific structures for the different elections with temporary personnel will also have “a negative impact on the quality of elections“.
Experts from the Council of Europe also warn that concentrating electoral disputes in the hands of a national electoral court could be “problematic” given the federal structure of the Mexican state.
Such a centralized court would potentially be subject to a very high workload, as it would have to take on all complaints and appeals.
In general terms, the Venice Commission emphasizes that there should be “a more in-depth public debate” on the potential impact of constitutional amendments to modify the electoral system.
Not only the 46 member countries of the Council of Europe are part of the Venice Commission, but also another 15, including Mexico, but also the United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, South Korea, Israel , Morocco and Tunisia.
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