Martha Martínez and Claudia Salazar / Reform Agency
Tuesday, April 11, 2023 | 18:22
The Chamber of Deputies approved a reform that reduces the minimum age to be a deputy from 21 to 18 years and from 30 to 25 the age to access the position of Secretary of State.
The project that modifies articles 55 and 91 of the Constitution, was endorsed by the Plenary of San Lázaro unanimously, with 439 votes, and sent to the Senate of the Republic.
During the discussion of the opinion promoted by legislators from different caucuses, PRI member Karla Ayala assured that despite the fact that young people have spent a lot of time in the sights of political parties as electoral loot, they have rarely given them the opportunity to participate in the electoral processes.
He regretted that the law considers this sector mature enough to get married, create a company, go to war, acquire fiscal obligations, pay taxes and vote, but not to be voted for.
“We must wait between the ages of 18 and 21 to be eligible for public office, three years where we are nothing more than votes, without the possibility of running for public office,” he said.
The legislator pointed out that although many adults argue that young people are not mature enough to hold public or elected office, maturity is not always defined by age.
He added that if the Mexican State is not capable of guaranteeing access to education for the entire sector, compulsory academic training should not be a requirement to be a candidate.
“This reform is going to make the public decide whether or not our profile is the one with which they feel most identified,” he said.
PAN member Romel Pacheco stressed that the almost 40 million young people who live in the country are not represented in the Chamber of Deputies.
He agreed that young people are considered immature, incapable and inexperienced to make decisions; However, he said that Malala and Greta Thunberg are examples that this is a lie, they are activists.
He affirmed that at the national level there are also examples such as Katya Echazarreta, the first Mexican woman to go into space; Alexander Chan, who won the international environmental drawing competition, and many young people who, even before they turned 18, have become world or Olympic champions.
“That age is not a condition, it has to be knowledge, ability and that a figure does not limit the power to hold public office,” he demanded.
PRD member Macarena Chávez recalled that according to the latest population census, there are 10.8 million young people between 15 and 19 years of age in the country.
He indicated that despite this, there are limitations for them, even when they are considered the future of Mexico, because although they have the right to vote, they cannot access decision-making positions.
“We find limitations towards young people, who are the future of the country, since, as citizens, they can exercise their right to vote; however, our Magna Carta does not grant them the right to be voted or hold a popularly elected position (. ..) a circumstance that can be taken as a sector of the citizenry that is only occupied to vote,” he warned.
Herminio Samperio, from Movimiento Ciudadano, affirmed that the youth matter, because they represent innovation and the absolute defense of causes.
He indicated that although youth today is organizing to demand solutions and have more access to technologies, the Covid-19 pandemic also caused 740,000 to not complete their studies and deteriorated their mental health, because while in 2020, 84 thousand suffering from depression, by 2022 the figure increased to 131 thousand.
The legislator argued that youth need to have more opportunities to participate and decide, for which reason he asked Congress to legislate for a generation and not for a person or for a leadership.
Andrea Chávez, from Morena, argued that one of the explanations for the historical and social relevance of the reform is the principle of non-discrimination, enshrined in the Constitution.
“We are excluding almost 30 percent of the Mexican population from this Mosaic of representativeness for a discriminatory element that has no scientific reason or logical argument,” he said.
He stated that the reform does not modify in any way the party’s candidacy selection process and gave as an example that his party uses the method of polls to make this type of decision.
Chávez called for letting the citizens choose whether or not a candidate has experience.
“Let it be the people of Mexico, who are wise and who are not stupid, who decide if you have the necessary experience or not,” he reiterated.
