Plan B: AMLO’s Electoral Reform will advance in the Senate, but “eternal life” divides Congress

united commissions of the Interior and Constitutional Points made public their draft opinion in relation to the second half of the AMLO Plan Bwhere they do not recognize the modification of the Chamber of Deputies in relation to the “eternal life” clause to political parties with low voting power; however, the rest of the project will move forward.

The resolutions of the decree project specify that the Senate “does not approve the modification made to the Article 12 of the General Law of Electoral Institutions and Procedures by the Chamber of Deputies approved on December 15, 2022, for not adhering to the provisions of section E of Article 72 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (CPEUM)”.

The rest of the Project, developed by the joint commissions, will be sent to the Board of Directors of the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies will be informed of the determination of the commissions. In this regard, he transcended that this determination was made in this way because, as the Chamber of origin, the deputies had approved said clause the time they endorsed the initiative in fast trackTherefore, the modifications that were made the second time they verified the reform do not apply unless they are applicable in the modifications made by the Senate.

The eternal life clause, raised in the Electoral Reform promoted by the president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), points out that the large parties will be able to transfer part of their votes to the small parties that they have in their alliance or coalition so that they can preserve their registration as a political party. Said clause was condemned by the parliamentary opposition, as they maintained that it is a trick so that the satellite parties can continue living from the prerogatives of the State.

This means that, if this clause is approved, the vote of direct representation would be violated, since the permanence of the parties must be assigned entirely to the will of the citizens; notwithstanding, the promoting parties of the Fourth Transformation (4T) in the Senate had come out in defense of this legal modification.

On their own, the opposition parties said that they will continue filing constitutional controversies and unconstitutionality actions for each time that any of the laws amends that violates the provisions of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (cpeum). In such a way that it would be expected that, if this part of the initiative were to be approved, the opposition would go to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) to challenge the “eternal life” to unpopular parties.

In this context, it should be remembered that “eternal life” is not a new mechanism, since this mechanism is used in local electoral processes; however, this modification to the General Law of Electoral Institutions and Procedures (LGIPE) is not contemplated in a federal way or approved among the entities, for which reason it had been argued in favor of this initiative.

It should be remembered that, in a press conference, the leaders of the “containment bloc” had presented their points of view, where they recognized that National Regeneration Movement (Brunette) and their allies in the Senate (PT, PES and PVEM) have the simple majority that is needed to approve the initiative, for which they highlighted their desire that this initiative be ratified by the Chamber and thus be able to go to the Court to challenge it.

Other features to look for in the AMLO Plan B is that the claims in relation to the “eternal life” clause are not directly linked to the unconstitutionality actions promoted by the opposition and the National Electoral Institute (INE), since the modifications to the legal framework in the Political-electoral Reform are so extensive that the PRI, PAN, PRD, MC and the decentralized body have already promoted their own resources.

In this regard, the SCJN must address these appeals, assess the alleged violations and, because of this, issue a judgment that will be final and irrevocable in relation to the Electoral Reformthat is why different political actors have come out to provide an approximation to the discussions that will be established within the supreme court.

Some of the figures that entered into an ideological clash were hamlet garcia against Lorenzo Córdova, who had a different opinion regarding the legal discussion that will take place in the SCJN. On the one hand, Córdova sees that Plan B encourages the unfeasibility of reliable and transparent elections, in addition to the territorial presence of the INE is reduced both in modules and in the installation of boxes. On the other side of the spectrum was the deputy from Morena, who mentioned how it is that with these budget cuts and with imagination, the INE could work efficiently without representing a greater expense.