Morena seeks to reduce INE 3,000 million pesos with electoral reform “b”

The coordinator of Morena in the Chamber of Deputies, Ignacio Mier Velazco, reported that the “plan b” of the electoral reform, in terms of secondary laws, is already being analyzed, while he estimated that they have until April 2023, to be voted on. in Congress.

The also president of the Political Coordination Board (JCP) said that given the evident refusal of the opposition to approve the electoral reform in constitutional matters, the so-called “plan b” of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will soon be placed on the parliamentary agenda.

Mier explained that the secondary reform would reduce the INE’s operating budget by almost 3,000 million pesos.

The leader of Morena referred to the opinion on constitutional reform in electoral matters, about which he said that he seeks to reduce the cost of elections in Mexico and that popular representation be symmetrical to that of the United States, a country where there are 536 deputies and senators. .

He stressed that in the Morena bench there is a conviction and unanimity that the number of legislators must be reduced.

He commented that the constitutional reform decree project has to be discussed and voted on in plenary session, and if it is rejected, it will move on to a possible “plan b” that is already “cooking”, and whose deadline for approval is on April 3, 2022.

“A plan B means that if the ideal cannot be achieved, the possible must be achieved. Plan B means that the backbone, which is part of the constitutional reform, can be reflected in the six laws that would be the subject of reforms and modifications, the secondary laws, ”he said.

operating cuts

He explained that in this eventual “plan b” the reduction of almost 3,000 million pesos (mdp) to the operating budget of the INE will be considered, “which is the operating expense that it has, whether or not there are elections, and which is 13,000 million pesos more the trusts that are 2,000 million pesos. There we can, in those 15,000 million pesos, make adjustments that guarantee savings to the Treasury and the people of Mexico”.

He pointed out that a budget reduction would be made to the General Directorate of Training and Organization of the INE.

When expressly asked about the position of the coordinator of the PRI bench, the deputy Rubén Moreira Valdez, that the important thing about an electoral reform is how to combat the interference of organized crime in the elections, Mier Velazco indicated that a reform in this sense must be at the constitutional level.

Finally, he mentioned that the call to select four new INE directors is expected to be published on December 13, which will begin the selection process, which will end on March 30, 2022.

maritza.perez@eleconomista.mx