AMLO reform goes for salary reduction in the INE and the TEPJF

The electoral reform bill (Plan B) approved yesterday by a majority of Morena and allies in the Chamber of Deputies, contemplates the reduction of salaries of officials of the National Electoral Institute (INE) and the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF), despite the fact that it is a matter pending resolution in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN).

“Electoral bodies are obliged to comply with the mandate of article 127 of the Constitution, which orders that the wages of Electoral Counselors, Electoral Magistrates and all public servants of both the INE and the TEPJF be lower than the salary of the President of the Republic”, mentioned the minute.

In the case of INEthe twenty-fifth transitory article of the reform establishes that the electoral body, “from the entry into force of this decree, will carry out a new calculation and comprehensive review of the salary tabulators of its personnel and local public organizations, to be applied within the 180 days following the referred date, in order to adjust the remunerations to the limits established in article 127 of the Constitution”.

It even warns that “in no case will the personnel of the National Electoral Institute and local public bodies be considered to carry out specialized or qualified technical work that justifies an exception to the limit established in section II of the second paragraph of the aforementioned constitutional provision.”

It should be noted that this draft is still subject to analysis and eventual approval in the Senate of the Republic.

He argued that the INE workforce is made up of 17,569 employees, and at least 123 receive higher salaries than the President of the Republic. “The sum of the annual salary of the 11 Electoral Counselors is 34,667 million 688,000 pesos. In other words, 11 people from the INE cost the treasury the same as 4,938 teachers of upper secondary education in the country per year ”, he maintains.

The reform to article 52 of the General Law of Electoral Institutions and Procedures mentions that the salaries of the holders of the Executive Directorates of the INE may not be higher than the salaries of the Electoral Counselors, and also in no case will the exception of specialization or qualified technical work to exceed the limit established in section II of the second paragraph of article 127 of the Constitution.

The INE is obliged to integrate and update the catalog of positions and positions of the National Electoral Professional Service, considering the tabulators of the Federal Public Administration as a guiding parameter. “In no case can a remuneration be established greater than the limit established in section II of the second paragraph of article 127 of the Constitution, and submit it for approval to the Administration Commission.”

Likewise, the reform to article 167 of the Organic Law of the Judiciary of the Federation establishes that “the electoral Magistrates members of the Superior Chamber will receive an adequate and inalienable remuneration for the performance of their function, which cannot justify the exception of specialization or qualified technical work to exceed the limit established in section II of the second paragraph of article 127 of the Constitution”.

It should be noted that the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation has yet to resolve constitutional controversies promoted by the INE, Bank of Mexico and the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) against the maximum salary system for civil servants established in the Federal Remuneration Law of Public Servants.

jorge.monroy@eleconomista.mx