Four months before the elections and despite
not having a
sufficient parliamentary majority to be able to carry out constitutional reforms without consensus, the president of Mexico,
Andrés Manuel López Obrador
, will present this Monday
a series of initiatives
that he considers transcendental for his political legacy and shield what he called “the fourth transformation of Mexico” when he came to power in 2018.
Among the proposals that it will send to Congress are several to
elevate social programs already in force to constitutional status
, reform the pension system or guarantee adequate annual increases in the minimum wage.
But there are also proposals that, in advance, the president himself has recognized have little or no chance of succeeding because
they have been rejected by the entire opposition
or even by the courts.
However, as he has been announcing in various press conferences, he wants to present them anyway
so that it is clear that he supports them.
López Obrador, at the National Palace in Mexico City.
Photo: EFE
While waiting for this Monday,
107 years since the promulgation of the Constitution
, to detail the initiatives, López Obrador has already advanced several.
He said he would resubmit proposals for the National Guard—the star corps of his administration—to remain in the hands of the Army and not under civilian power as established when it was created, or for state energy companies to have priority over private ones
. , the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation has already ruled against
previous laws with these objectives.
Remove regulatory bodies
He also
aspires to eliminate regulatory bodies
, such as antitrust or transparency, because he believes that
“they do not serve the people”
although all opposition parties have harshly attacked this idea that would damage democracy and competitiveness in the country.
López Obrador also tried, without success, to reform
the National Electoral Institute and the electoral laws just before this year's race.
López Obrador aspires to eliminate regulatory bodies, such as antitrust or transparency.
Photo: EFE
Another of the controversial proposals that could be finalized this Monday is a reform of the Judiciary so that, among other things, the judges of the Supreme Court
are elected by popular vote,
something that experts consider can undermine the impartiality of the highest court.
But in the heat of the race towards the general elections on June 2, there are also measures that
could have the support of some of the opposition.
Pension law
Among them is the proposal to
change the pension law
so that workers can receive
100% of their last salary upon retirement
, an idea that, in principle, the three main opposition groups that are running for election in coalition—the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the National Action Party and the Democratic Revolution Party—have shown themselves
willing to study.
It is not ruled out that they could also support other social initiatives that are the ones that have given the president the most political returns.
Prior to this battery of initiatives, López Obrador
had sent 10 constitutional reforms to Congress,
of which
only five were approved
, according to data from the Senate.
Among them, the creation of the National Guard, the revocation of the mandate and some social programs stand out.
In its more than a century of history, the Mexican Constitution has been reformed
256 times.
The president has acknowledged that with the presentation of all these proposals four months before the votes he wants to protect as many changes as possible so that, whoever comes to power,
"it will not be easy for them to remove them."
Despite being in the final stretch of his mandate, López Obrador
maintains his popularity very high
, which benefits the candidate of the ruling party,
Claudia Sheinbaum
, who remains the favorite followed by
Xóchitl Gálvez,
the candidate of the opposition coalition.
Sheinbaum Pardo is a Mexican politician and scientist born in Mexico City in 1962. She currently serves as
Head of Government of Mexico City,
a position to which she was elected in the 2018 elections as a candidate for the National Regeneration Movement party (Morena). .
With information from the Associated Press