Claudia Salazar / Reform Agency
Sunday, March 26, 2023 | 19:13
Mexico City.- The leadership of the PAN and opposition legislators demanded that the criteria of impartiality prevail in the election of new directors of the National Electoral Institute, after it was made known that among the finalist candidates there are profiles linked to the Government and the Fourth Transformation.
Marko Cortés, president of Acción Nacional, affirmed that it is “absolutely reprehensible” that various proposals from the Technical Committee for the Evaluation of INE candidates are closely linked to the Government and Morena.
He stated that for that reason alone they had to declare several of these profiles unsuitable.
He pointed out that in the face of the failure of “Plan B” of the electoral reform, whose implementation was suspended by the Supreme Court, the selection of the new INE advisers becomes like Morena’s “Plan C” to control the INE and from there impose a favorable result in the 2024 presidential elections.
“For the good of Mexico and our democracy, to ensure free and credible elections, the National Action Party demands that the Chamber of Deputies, in the last stage, legitimize the selection process of the President and three INE advisers.
“Every day it is more suspicious that various Morenista characters, without being experts in electoral matters, have obtained the best qualifications and have subsequently advanced to the last stage, when due to their obvious links with the Government and with the Morena party, the Technical Committee of Evaluation had to have declared his non-suitability”, Cortés reproached.
He recalled that the INE is an institution that must be independent and neutral in decision-making.
He pointed out that this can only be achieved if the selection process for the President and three directors is transparent and with completely autonomous and independent profiles.
“That is why the election of councilors is essential to guarantee fair, impartial and credible elections in Mexico,” he added.
He also accused that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador intends to remain in power after his administration, through control of the Institute.
“At Acción Nacional we will not allow the National Electoral Institute to be destroyed, neither inside nor outside, for which reason we make a strong call to the deputies so that, of the 20 proposals made by the Technical Evaluation Committee, elect by qualified majority the 4 most capable, with an impeccable record, that guarantee professionalism, independence, neutrality and credibility in the elections,” he said.
The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Santiago Creel Miranda, also considered that Morena wants to apply her “Plan C” in order to have INE advisers by way.
He assured that the opposition is not going to allow impartiality to be lost in the INE.
“Any attempt to impose people who do not meet the impartiality requirement will be stopped. The Law is the Law,” the legislator posted after the quintets of INE candidates were announced.
The coordinator of the PAN deputies, Jorge Romero, said that the quintets will be thoroughly analyzed because Acción Nacional wants the best profiles.
“We will propose the profiles of women and men that guarantee the impartiality of the INE,” he said.
The PRD coordinator, Luis Espinosa Cházaro, said that they will carefully analyze the quintets.
“We will propose to the Political Coordination Board two men and two women who guarantee the autonomy and impartiality of the INE,” he said.
The senator of the Plural Group and member of the National Civic Front, Emilio Álvarez Icaza, announced that any appointment of INE directors close to the 4T will be challenged.
“We will challenge that morenistas impose morenistas in the INE. López Obrador wants an INE in the style of the National Human Rights Commission, which has become an ‘imitation’ of an institution at the service of the Government,” he accused.
