The electoral reform is stuck before reaching the plenary session
Ricardo Monreal, Morena’s coordinator in the Chamber of Deputies, dropped the bomb this Tuesday. He acknowledged what many suspected: there is no agreement with his coalition partners, the PT and the Green Party, on the controversial electoral reform promoted by the Presidency.
Without those votes, the initiative crashes against the wall of the qualified majority. An elementary political calculation that seems to have been made… later.
A proposal that arrives as is
Monreal painted a clear scenario. He said that it is likely that the president will send the initiative as originally proposed, including that thorny point of reducing the multi-member deputies.
“Knowing the president, she will probably present the initiative that she considers appropriate, and we have to review it,” said the legislator.
There it is. The tone is not exactly one of unanimous enthusiasm. It’s the sound of a party receiving a package and having to make it work, reluctant allies included.
Morena will support the proposal, that is not in doubt. The problem is the cold arithmetic of Congress. Without the votes of the PT and the Green, the numbers are not enough for the required qualified majority.
Monreal admitted it bluntly: it will be difficult to achieve that majority if consensus is not built. Translation: they are far from assured.
It’s the classic game of expectations. Lower them before the crash, so that any subsequent advance seems like a victory. But this time, the obstacle comes from within his own house.
The electoral reform was born with an internal political pulse already lost. And that is a bad sign for any initiative that seeks to change the rules of the game.
