Critics see the planned electoral reform as a threat to the autonomy of electoral authorities.
Thousands of Mexicans took to the streets against the government’s planned electoral reform. According to the capital’s Interior Minister Martí Batres, 10 to 12,000 people took part in a demonstration in Mexico City on Sunday (local time) – opposition representatives spoke of hundreds of thousands of participants.
There were also marches in several other cities under the slogan “Hands out of the INE” – the authority that organizes elections in the North American country. There were no reports of significant incidents.
Populist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador introduced the bill to Parliament in April. Among other things, the reform would restructure and reduce the size of the INE (Instituto Nacional Eleitoral). In the future, its members would be elected by the people. State election campaign funding for parties would also be reduced.
Critics see the bill as a threat to the autonomy of the electoral authority and, therefore, to democracy. In his four years as head of state and government, left-wing nationalist López Obrador has been repeatedly accused of autocratic tendencies.
(APA/DPA)