Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Mexico on Sunday against an electoral reform approved by the power in place, which according to the opposition threatens the independence of the National Electoral Institute (INE) in charge of the organization of the next presidential election. expected mid-2024.
The demonstrators dressed in white and pink took over the central square of the Zocalo (21,000 m2) under the slogan #We don't touch my vote, noted an AFP journalist.
Fraud charges
The opposition and part of civil society reject the electoral reform definitively approved on Wednesday by Congress, where those close to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and their allies have the majority.
The reform reduces the size and resources of the National Electoral Institute (INE), which Lopez Obrador accuses of having covered up fraud in the past.
The reform "
is a step backwards for democracy
," Alejandro Rordiguez, a 61-year-old lawyer, told AFP.
He adds that he also wants to “
protest
” against the leftist president, whose policy he believes “
harms Mexicans
”.
The changes limit INE's powers to oversee electoral propaganda on radio and television, and eliminate 85% of its career professionals.
"
Key elements (...) of the Mexican electoral system which has allowed the peaceful and periodic renewal of powers through the free and secret ballot, may run the risk of being affected", according to the INE
.
The opposition ensures that these changes affect the independence of the INE for the benefit of the power in place with the approach of the 2024 elections. Follower of political division, Lopez Obrador disqualified his opponents by calling them "corrupt"
who
want return to power.
The president affirms that the organization of the elections costs more in Mexico than elsewhere.
He considered that the demonstrators were also defending the ex-secretary (minister) of Security, Genaro García Luna, who has just been found guilty of drug trafficking by a court in the United States.
"
They come to say: we don't touch INE, but also 'we don't touch Garcia Luna' and basically: 'we don't touch the corrupt and conservative regime'", Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday
.
A first demonstration of the opposition against the reform had gathered tens of thousands of people in the streets of Mexico City on November 13.
Two weeks later, Lopez Obrador mobilized tens of thousands of people in the streets to present the results of his four years in power.
INE and the opposition parties have announced an appeal against the electoral reform to the Supreme Court.