The real success of AMLO’s popular consultation: New York Times

The controversial consultation promoted by the president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) presented a setback by getting only about 7% of citizens’ votes, while the goal was to get 40% of voters to turn out.

“The fragility of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s movement was in evidence this Sunday with the results of the popular consultation, ”he wrote Viri rios, journalist The New York Times by touching the subject.

The original idea of ​​the consultation was to prosecute five former Mexican presidents: Ernesto Zedillo, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Vicente Fox, Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto for crimes they allegedly committed while in power.

At the end, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) determined that it was unconstitutional to include the specification of agents and he ended up asking himself the question that legal proceedings would be initiated against the “political actors” and their acts committed in the past.

The journalist of NOW He assured that the citizen consultation as a mechanism in Mexico is “a step in favor” of participatory and direct democracy, especially since it is the first that is annexed to the Constitution and organized by the National Electoral Institute (INE).

“The historic step that the consultation could have been, however, was not. At least not as López Obrador expected, ”said Ríos, for whom the results reveal “a failed exercise in participation”.

The question that was read in the consultation bulletins was:

Do you agree or not that the relevant actions be taken, in accordance with the constitutional and legal framework, to undertake a process of clarifying the political decisions taken in recent years by political actors, aimed at guaranteeing justice and the rights of potential victims?

Both for the communicator and for many, the question was confusing. However, during the popular consultation it was revealed that “The Mexican voter is ready to turn his back on the wishes of López Obrador’s party or to any political platform that does not offer concrete, clear and affordable ideas to change the reality of Mexico, ”admitted Viri Ríos.

The rapid tally of the National Electoral Institute (INE) revealed that turnout was 7.07 and 7.74% at the end of Sunday. According to the director of the institution, Lorenzo Córdova, the votes were well below what was necessary for the result to be binding in the legislative and executive powers.

The “yes” was overwhelming. Between 89.36% and 96.28% of the participants voted in favor, while 2.19 to 9.21% marked the “no” box and between 2.19 and 9.21% of the ballots did. cancel votes, according to what was recorded in the first 1830 polling stations in the country.

After three years in office, López Obrador has failed to deliver on his pledge to root out corruption, with few high-profile court cases so far in this six-year term, AP stressed after exercise. Corruption charges against Emilio Lozoya, a former director of state-owned Pemex under the government of former President Enrique Peña Nieto, and other government officials have proven difficult to bring to justice.

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