Mexico: Tens of Thousands March to Protest Electoral Overhaul

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Facts

  • Huge crowds gathered across Mexico on Sunday to protest against Pres. Andrés Manuel López Obrador's government's decision to shrink the electoral authority — they reportedly marked the largest demonstrations against his administration so far.1
  • This comes after Mexico's Congress last week passed a revamp of the National Electoral Institute (INE), a move that critics have argued will weaken the electoral system.2
  • According to organizers, over 500K protesters took part in the march on Mexico City's historic Zocalo Square, which was aimed at pressing the Supreme Court to declare the overhaul unconstitutional amid allegations that it threatens democracy. The city government put the figure at 90K.3
  • The new law would cut salaries and funding for local election offices, and reduce training for citizens who operate and oversee polling stations. Sanctions for candidates who fail to report campaign spending would also be diminished.4
  • The 33-year-old INE has been noted as an important institution in Mexico's transition from seven decades of one-party rule, but the president has accused it of having turned into an inflated bureaucracy controlled by allegedly overpaid civil servants.5
  • The spokesman for López Obrador on Monday stated that plans to overhaul the independent electoral agency will not be reversed, insisting that Sunday's protests were a political maneuver against his government.6

Sources: 1NBC, 2Voa, 3BBC News, 4Al Jazeera, 5Washington Post and 6Wall Street Journal.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Telesur english. Despite organizers exaggerating the numbers, the truth is that Sunday's marches against López  Obrador's electoral reform were very limited. Though those who attended the demonstrations claim to want to transform the country,  they are just anti-democratic reactionaries seeking to maintain privilege and injustice by promoting lies.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Ft. These protests are the last hope Mexico has to overturn the new electoral law championed by the populist López Obrador, which poses a real threat to the country's democracy. It is time for the EU and the US to step in — they should denounce this authoritarian push and protect Mexico's free and open society.