President Andrés Manuel “AMLO” López Obrador of Mexico suffered another setback in his quest to reform INE, the country’s electoral institute. The country’s electoral tribunal on Wednesday ruled that an article removing the INE’s executive secretary, Edmundo Jacobo, could not be applied.
The decision came after mass protests in Mexico City’s central plaza last month called for courts to overturn AMLO’s electoral reform proposals, arguing they pose a risk to democracy.
The protests were the first time that the opposition had come together to challenge AMLO’s leadership, and came one year before the ruling Morena party goes to the polls again in the country’s 2024 presidential election.
The INE was created as an independent body to ensure the transparency of the country’s voting process, following decades of PRI party rule through fraudulent practices.
But AMLO has argued that INE’s bureaucratic practices of checking voter IDs, updating voting registries, and overseeing regional elections are an unnecessary expense. He has also questioned the independence of its authorities, whom he sees as part of Mexico’s elite and sympathetic to his critics.
The electoral tribunal’s vote was split, with three judges supporting the legality of AMLO’s proposal and three voting against it. The president of the tribunal, Reyes Rodríguez Mondragón, cast the deciding vote against Mr. Jacobo’s removal, arguing that the transitory norm that led to his dismissal was unconstitutional.
The country’s Supreme Court is still analyzing other crucial parts of the reform, including a massive reduction of INE’s staff, following multiple legal challenges by INE members and opposition leaders.
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