Opposition to the Mexican government gathered the largest protest action against the reform of the electoral system, which was approved by the Congress of the Republic last week – the estimated number of speeches in the three largest cities amounted to 140,000 people.
⠀
“Thousands of Mexicans, determined to defend their country and our democracy, filled the central square, we will do it together … in this case, the National Electoral Institute and the Electoral Court are inviolable,” the leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, Alexander Moreno, who took part in the capital action wrote in his blog.
⠀
According to the city police, 90,000 people gathered in the center of Mexico City, and about 50,000 more took to the streets of Guadalajara and Monterrey, the organizers of the action said. Less numerous performances were held in 22 states of the country. During the work of the incumbent President Andres Manuel López Obrador, protests of such a number have not yet been held.
⠀
In the ruling Morena National Revival Movement, the opposition march was called a farce, pointing out that their opponents consider themselves to be the source of democracy. According to Morena leader Mario Delgado, the current government is fighting to strengthen democracy in the country so that power is in the hands of the people.
⠀
Mexican senators on February 22 agreed on a controversial draft of amendments to the laws on political and electoral procedures – the so-called “Plan B” of electoral reform, proposed by the president after an unsuccessful attempt to amend the basic law.
⠀
As a result of the innovations in the composition of the INE, the permanent structure of subordinate delegations should be eliminated, and the Professional Electoral Service of the INE should be reduced. The institute itself, which opposes the reform, said that the new rules would lead to the reduction of 80% of the staff.
⠀
The opposition, which has vowed to challenge the adopted reform in the supreme court, claims it violates the constitution and jeopardizes the holding of presidential elections in 2024.
⠀
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador claims that Mexico’s electoral system allows vote fraud, which he announced back in 2006 after his first lost presidential campaign.
