Former President Felipe Calderón joined the warning of the former president of the National Electoral Institute (INE), Luis Carlos Ugalde, who, through an opinion article in the newspaper El Financiero, assured that the consultation of the Revocation of Mandate is a hoax, since it has become a “propaganda for ratification”.
Through her Twitter account, Calderón Hinojosa wrote: “I subscribe: “What is democratically responsible is to refrain from participating in the consultation. The only way to combat the violation of the legal framework and the provocations of Morena and the government is to turn our backs on this exercise of political propaganda.” #UrnasVacías”, he highlighted while retweeting a message from another user of that social network, who in turn, shared Ugalde's article.
In his writing, Luis Carlos Ugalde highlighted that the government itself, since Congress and the official party, has been in open contempt of the electoral rules that regulate consultation.
“There are signs of rebellion against the rules that parties have endorsed in the last 20 years. I presage the risk of contempt and that the authorities will be overtaken by political actors willing to break the league and then accuse the INE of disorder. If this materializes, the precedent for the 2024 presidential election is extremely serious,” warned Ugalde Ramírez.
He stressed that although the Mandate Revocation is a right of the injured, “it is clear that it has become the party of the president's cheerleaders: they collected the signatures, they promote the vote and they have turned a right into political propaganda,” emphasized the fellow academic and political consultant.
He assured that the Revocation of Mandate is a citizen exercise “that is why governments and parties are prohibited from propaganda. But since day one, Morena has been the great promoter of the exercise through the civil association 'Let democracy follow', a group coordinated by Gabriela Jiménez Godoy, candidate for federal deputy for Morena in 2021 (who won the most votes on the day of the day but her “triumph” was revoked due to irregularities in four boxes)”, highlighted Luis Carlos Ugalde.
The former president of the INE said that governments and parties must comply with the rules of the game, which were largely promoted by López Obrador himself when he was an opposition politician; but now that he is a government, he does not comply with the guidelines, such as that of the electoral ban “as required by governments to do when he was an opposition candidate”.
He stressed that in addition, all the governors of Morena openly violate the electoral ban by inviting them to vote in the consultation.
“It is true that electoral rules are very restrictive of freedom of expression. But these are the rules in force endorsed by Morena and that have been developed since the 2007 electoral reform tailored to López Obrador. They can be changed, but no longer for this consultation process,” Ugalde wrote in his article.
He stressed that in electoral matters, INE decisions can only be challenged before the Electoral Tribunal. However, Ugalde emphasized, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Morenist Sergio Gutiérrez Luna, filed a constitutional dispute against the INE for “imposing” precautionary measures against legislators that promote the revocation of the mandate.
“Then, last Friday, it promoted a decree to interpret the meaning of government propaganda and thus allow Morena lawmakers and government officials to promote the vote. This last legislative act is an aberration since the House lacks the power to 'interpret' laws, which corresponds to the judiciary and, in the case in question, the Electoral Tribunal,” he warned.
Luis Carlos Ugalde pointed out that although López Obrador has promoted an “austere” democracy, the Mandate Revocation has become a “waste of resources” for the promotion and coercion of voting, as it is currently the case, it is the preamble to what will happen in the next presidential election, in 2024.
“For all of the above, the most responsible attitude from a democratic point of view is to refrain from participating in the consultation. The only way to combat the violation of the legal framework and the provocations of Morena and the government is to turn our backs on this exercise of political propaganda. Empty ballot boxes will be the best sign that, in the face of deception, it is better to abstain”, he concluded.
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