By qualified majority, the Plenary of the Chamber of Deputies endorsed modifying the constitution to lower the age required to hold public office.
The project that reforms articles 55 and 91 of the Political Constitution was approved by 439 votes in favor, 0 against and 0 abstentions and was sent to the Senate of the Republic for its constitutional effects.
The document establishes in article 55 that To be a deputy you must be 18 years old fulfilled on the day of the election, he is currently 21 years old.
While in article 91, it specifies that in order to be Secretary of state It is required to be a Mexican citizen by birth, to be in exercise of their rights and to have 25 years old; to date, an age of 30 years is set.
Once approved by both Chambers and the local congresses, it will have 180 calendar days following its entry into force, the legislatures of the federal entities must adjust their Constitutions and other legislation that is necessary, in order to comply with the decree.
During the discussion in plenary, and when basing the opinion of the Constitutional Points Commission, the deputy Andrea Chávez Treviño (Morena) expressed that the opinion comes from a series of initiatives of legislators from different parliamentary groups, with the purpose of reduce the minimum age to be a federal deputy, from 21 to 18 years, as well as lower the minimum age to be a member of the federal cabinet, from 30 to 25 years.
He indicated that it seeks to adhere to the principles of non-discrimination established in the Political Constitution and equality, “since it is not possible that of the 500 deputies that we are, we are not even ten under 30 years of age; We are excluding almost 30 percent of the Mexican population because of that mosaic of representativeness, because of a discriminatory element that has no scientific reason or logical argument.”
He mentioned that it is expected to guarantee the principles of consistency and reciprocity in the Magna Carta. “The best popular representative is the one that most resembles the person represented by him. The party candidacy selection process is not modified. Today, the youth are more ready than ever and we must not miss the opportunity to participate in historic moments; we will not fail them”.
For him BREAD, the deputy Ali Sayuri Núñez Meneses affirmed that the rights of youth are guaranteed not only to exercise the vote but also to aspire to public office and be voted for without any discrimination based on age. “It is about advancing the political rights of young people, contributing to their inclusion and strengthening the culture of their political participation. More young people will have the opportunity to express themselves here and represent a sector that has much to contribute”.
Rommel Aghmed Pacheco Marrufo, deputy of the PAN, mentioned that today the youth are defended so that the 30 percent that are not represented in this House have a space and representation. “Young people are the present that is being built and working to have a better Mexico. We hope that the youth have the responsibility of preparing themselves and that age is not a determining factor”.
Meanwhile, one of the promoters of the reform, the deputy Karla Ayala Villalobos (PRI) affirmed that this reform is a historical fact because young people will be able to exercise their political rights without pretense and without lies.
He considered that the reform will be a step to remove stereotypes with which youth have been related, such as immaturity, incapacity, laziness, and not giving importance to things.
After questioning why 18-year-olds can vote, but not be voted for; The legislator claimed that at that age the law allows them to marry, create companies, acquire tax obligations, access credit and be tried as adults, but they do not have the possibility of accessing a popularly elected position.
“We must wait from 18 to 21 years of age to enjoy the right that the Constitution gives us to be eligible for public office, three years where we are nothing more than votes!, without the possibility of aspiring to compete for public office , the politicians do ask us to vote for them, but we also want to be voted for”, asserted the youngest member of the LXV Legislature.
