The collapse of the popular consultation: only about 8% of voters voted, but an overwhelming “yes” won

The consultation made by the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), promoted as a result of the initiative to prosecute five former presidents, concluded with a very low participation rate by citizenship and did not get enough votes to be constitutionally binding.

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.

In the ballot that the citizens who went to vote received, it read: “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 possible victims? “.

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.

The text of the question, which was defined last October by the Supreme Court of Justice, generated conflicting positions between lawyers and analysts, which some considered to be law-abiding, while others said it was confusing and very general.

Even if the initiative did not gain the required popular support, some analysts predict, according to AP, that this does not prevent the Judicial Power of the Federation and the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic from carrying out any legal proceedings.

After three years in office, López Obrador has failed to deliver on his main promise to root out corruption, with few high-profile court cases so far during his six-year term, the agency pointed out. 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.

In front of this situation analysts believe López Obrador is seeking the electorate’s blessing to change course and persecute former presidents, two of whom – Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) and Vicente Fox (2000-2006) – were among his most vocal critics.

In all, Mexico has six living former presidents, the eldest of them Luis Echeverría, 99 years old. The statute of limitations has expired for many of the abuses that they are accused of committing, most of which involve massive corruption, bribes, waste of government money and criminal economic mismanagement.

The consultation was mainly promoted by the president’s party, Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena), which, like the INE, called the exercise a “successful” experience. Above all, they underlined that “the popular cry for justice has largely exceeded the NO”, which implies from their point of view that “a new stage against impunity in the country is being opened”.

KEEP READING: