The wait is over, but doubts persist
After a one-day delay, Claudia Sheinbaum finally dusted off her much-announced electoral reform. She did it in the National Palace, surrounded by the team that has been cooking it since October. “There are 10 points that we are proposing,” he said, as if it were the menu of the day.
Pablo Gómez, head of the presidential commission, was in charge of the details. Or some. He detailed that there were 63 public hearings with 181 experts. A number that sounds like a lot of work on paper.
“There are 10 points that we are proposing”
But here comes the good thing. Gómez failed to mention the meetings with INE advisors and the requests they made. The majority were conspicuous by their absence in the final proposal. A minor detail, I guess.
The man also complained about Mexican electoral spending, which he called “the most expensive in the world.” He recognized, however, that the oversight function should remain in the hands of the INE.
“It would be the most important reform carried out in terms of oversight”
A grandiose statement for a proposal that comes with dark parts. Memory is long in this country: each electoral reform comes with the promise of being definitive. And here we are again.
The presentation had all the elements of a neat official event: data, figures, a photo for history. But between the lines, it smells of the same as always: much ado, little nothing and convenient omissions. The real debate begins now.
