“Anti-corruption” referendum is a publicity stunt by Mexican president, critics say

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Sunday’s vote would trigger inquiry against former presidents, but turnout threshold may be unattainable, observers say

by: Julian Resendiz

Posted: July 30, 2021 / 3:45 PM CDT / Updated: July 30, 2021 / 3:45 PM CDT

Across Mexico, supporters promoted the election on their social media pages. Posters of former presidents in chains and frowning Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Ernesto Zedillo, Vicente Fox, Feilpe Calderon and Enrique Pena Nieto are flooding the internet. (MORENE)

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) When running for President of Mexico in 2018, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador vowed to hold previous presidents accountable for acts of corruption.

Now he is asking Mexicans to go to the polls on Sunday and participate in a national referendum to start the process. The problem, say observers and some Juarez politicians, is that the ballot question is so vague and the election publicity close to a draw that it will be impossible to meet the required 40% threshold. electoral participation.

It’s good to know what citizens think about things. But in this case, it’s a complete farce on the part of the president. You don’t ask people if they want justice, you just apply the law, Joob Quintin, chairman of the Conservative National Action Party, or PAN, told Juarez.

A wave of public frustration over government corruption and rising crime helped Lopez Obrador rise to the presidency. But violent crime has worsened and critics accuse the president of mismanaging the COVID-19 crisis by attending public events and hugging children as health officials around the world urged social distancing and the wearing of masks . Lopez Obrador is also being criticized for pushing multibillion-dollar projects such as the Maya train to the Yucatan Peninsula and a new state-funded airport for Mexico City.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador attends the ceremony to commemorate the third year of Lopez Obrador’s victory in the 2018 presidential elections at the Palacio Nacional on July 1, 2021, in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas / Getty Images)

This (election) is a smokescreen to cover up its mismanagement of the pandemic and waste money on unnecessary projects like the train and the airport. He wants to distract public attention so that he is not held accountable, Juarez city councilor Enrique Torres said.

The Juarez official said the National Election Institute will spend $ 26 million to organize an election that will go nowhere. I seriously doubt that many people will vote. Most of us who are not in his political party have no intention of participating in this sham, Torres said.

PAN’s Quintin said only 39 percent of Juarez’s electorate voted in municipal and national elections on July 6.

But Lopez Obrador supporters across Mexico have been promoting the election on their social media pages. Posters of former presidents in shackles and frowning Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Ernesto Zedillo, Vicente Fox, Felipe Calderon and Enrique Pea Nieto are flooding the internet.

Angel Echeverria, member of the Morena Party Youth Movement, said the referendum will be a declaration against the culture of corruption encouraged by previous Mexican leaders.

We have the ability to bring them to justice for all the money they stole and for all the people who are no longer with us, he said, referring to victims of crime, including those murdered by police officers working for the drug cartels.

Political scientist Tony Payan agrees with critics who say people will ignore the election, for the most part.

It is nothing but red meat for its political base. Most Mexicans aren’t interested, they’re not going to participate, let alone now that COVID-19 numbers are on the rise, said Payan, director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy. The political parties remain on the sidelines, there are no candidates and the question is vague and not very motivating. I suspect that only the most rabid supporters of the president or his agenda will show up.

The question on the website of the National Electoral Institute indicates: Are you in favor of taking the relevant measures, in accordance with the legal and constitutional lines, to initiate a process of clarifying the political decisions taken over the past years by the political actors in order to to guarantee justice and the rights of potential victims?

The institute plans to open some 50,000 public polling stations across Mexico on Sunday.

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