Electoral Game of Thrones?
The Chamber of Deputies is preparing to appoint three new advisors to the National Electoral Institute. The process, which should be flawless, comes with more questions than answers. The opposition is already raising its voice: it speaks of opacity and profiles that are too comfortable for the ruling party.
A technical committee reviewed nearly 400 candidates and delivered three lists of finalists. The famous ‘quintets’ arrived at the Political Coordination Board, that space where party coordinators negotiate what is negotiable. And that’s where the problem started.
Names that sound like déjà vu
Among the finalists are Arturo Chávez (director of Talleres Graphics), Bernardo Valle (former advisor to the Government) and Alejandra Tello Mendoza (electoral judicial official). The opposition identifies them as close to Claudia Sheinbaum and the Fourth Transformation project.
Leaders of the PAN and PRI have described the procedure as opaque and anticipated their vote against.
They denounce leaks in the exams and a ‘strategic’ inclusion of similar profiles. The curious thing: Morena and its allies have just the votes necessary to approve the appointments without the need for consensus.
If they pass, these advisors will be in office until 2035. Nine years is a long time in Mexican politics. It is enough to remember how many things have happened since 2015 to understand the importance of the position.
The autonomy of the INE is once again on the table. And every time this happens, one thinks of those previous cases that promised to be ‘the last’ electoral scandals. Institutional memory seems to have an expiration date.
