“Plan b” that foresees the ruling party could affect confidence

With Morena’s “plan b” in electoral matters, which intends to approve a reform to the secondary laws aimed at reducing the structure of the INE, there is a risk that the next elections will be complicated, with a diminished arbitrator that would affect the trust of the public, experts in the field pointed out.

Marco Baños, former counselor of the National Electoral Institute (INE), pointed out that a possible restructuring of the country’s Electoral Institute, as part of the modifications contemplated in Morena’s “plan b”, would be a risky change since its operational arms would be cut off. to the INE.

“They want to make the INE a smaller structure and with that reduce amounts from the budget (…) This ‘plan b’ has enormous disadvantages for the INE because it cuts off its operational arms to hold the elections; He would have to carry out a very delicate internal restructuring and less than a year after the start of the electoral process, which will allow the presidential succession, ”he warned.

bad time for change

On the subject, Héctor Marcos Diaz Santana, former head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the Attention of Electoral Crimes, considered that a reform in secondary matters would not make sense at this time, since he estimated that the country’s electoral system works adequately.

The also academic highlighted that because Mexico has an electoral system that is made based on mistrust, making changes to secondary laws would be patches that, many times, instead of improving the electoral process can complicate it.

In addition, when speaking about the main modification proposal, which seeks to reduce the costs of democracy, Diaz Santana indicated that although Mexico has one of the most expensive electoral systems in the world, this derives from the tension generated by the political actors themselves.

“There is always talk of fraud in the elections because it is the political actors that generate this tension. Many of them are used to not respecting the law, receiving irregular financing, spending more than what is established; to buy votes, and to generate political clientelism, for which reason you obviously need an apparatus that is, in a certain way, combating irregular practices that affect fair and democratic competition”, he stressed.

The expert added that it is clear that the cost of the electoral authority can be reduced, however, there are risks that the elections will not have confidence and certainty, giving rise to protests and demonstrations that generate political instability.

maritza.perez@eleconomista.mx