Mexico has passed a law to reduce the powers and slash the budget of the country’s independent election watchdog in what critics say is the biggest threat to democracy since the end of one-party rule in 2000.
The changes, championed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the country’s populist president, are set to gut the National Electoral Institute (INE), the watchdog historians say played a vital role in establishing democracy in a country plagued for decades by electoral fraud.
The law was given final approval by Mexico’s Senate on Wednesday by 72 to 50 ahead of presidential and congressional elections next year, in which López Obrador’s leftwing Morena alliance is seeking to extend its rule. Opposition politicians identify the INE’s fate as the most critical test of Mexico’s institutions during his presidency.
“López Obrador’s regressive, toxic, perverted, anti-democratic reform is coming from the top down,” said Dante Delgado, leader of the opposition Movimiento Ciudadano party. “He is destroying the work and fight of millions of Mexicans to create a democratic, impartial system.” INE monitors campaign funding, oversees electoral rolls and issues voter identification cards to Mexico’s 94.5mn adult citizens.
But funding cuts in the legislation would mean an 85 per cent reduction in technical staff for the electoral service, which oversees votes. The reforms also compress the timeframe for organising elections, loosen rules on public officials campaigning while in office and reduce penalties for violations of campaign-funding rules.
In a parallel move to the reforms, a committee mostly designated by members of López Obrador’s Morena party will soon choose four new commissioners for INE’s 11-member board.
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