President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) sent a package of constitutional reform initiatives to the Congress of the Union on Monday, February 5.
According to the president himself, there are at least ten important initiatives and changes in political-electoral matters, pensions, minimum wage, electrical industry, and the Judiciary, which will be presented to the Chamber of Representatives on the anniversary of the Constitution.
In addition, AMLO said, he is also preparing a series of proposals to ‘shield’ the social programs that he promoted during his government. This is the president’s last attempt to push through this ‘combo’ of reforms, since his mandate will officially end on September 30.
The reforms that AMLO is preparing before concluding his six-year term
New electoral reform: On the electoral issue, López Obrador announced that he would propose the disappearance of multi-member candidacies, as a way to reduce campaign expenses, in addition to reducing the number of deputies and senators.
Likewise, he indicated that he will focus on the amounts allocated to political parties: “We are going to propose more republican austerity because we started with an austerity plan that helped us a lot, but we think we can still save more. There can be no rich government with poor people,” he declared in one of his morning conferences.
Reform of the JudiciaryAmid his constant disputes with the ministers of the Supreme Court, the president proposed a reform of the Judicial Branch that will have as its main axis that judges, magistrates, and ministers be elected by popular vote.
This reform will also include reducing the salary so that the members of the Court cannot earn more than the president, as did the recently appointed minister-president of the SCJN, Lenia Batres.
López Obrador insisted that it is necessary to reform the Judiciary to “guarantee the election of honest, upright and incorruptible judges, magistrates and ministers.”
Pension reform
At the beginning of this year, the president announced that he would promote a proposal so that workers affiliated with the IMSS and ISSSTE can receive their full salary upon retirement.
The purpose is that workers can access a decent retirement with 100 percent of their last salary and that this is not reduced by half as is currently the case.
Given the criticism and ‘buts’ that opponents and analysts have pointed out, the president clarified that this measure does not imply changing the administration of the Afores, but rather increasing the government’s contribution to retirement savings.
Minimum wage
Another of his reform initiatives refers to increasing the minimum wage so that workers do not have a salary below inflation.
In this regard, he proposed modifying articles 123 and 127 of the Constitution to put a ‘lock’ on the increase in the minimum wage, which went from 88 to 249 pesos during his administration.
“I am going to send an initiative to reform article 123 of the Constitution, so that it is established that wages will never, ever increase less than inflation. Never again,” explained the president on January 8.
Electrical reform
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that on February 5 he will once again send a reform to the Constitution to establish the electricity industry as strategic and of public interest after the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation annulled the Law of the Electrical Industry of 2021 and declare it unconstitutional.
The purpose, he said, is to eliminate the 2013 energy reform and strengthen the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). He also announced that he would challenge the protection granted by the SCJN to private companies.
National Guard
Once again, the president will send his initiative to transfer the National Guard to the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), because although this proposal was previously approved in Congress, the SCJN stopped it through an appeal for review, considering it an unconstitutional measure.
For millions of Mexicans, these initiatives mean the start of a dictatorship, in case of being approved by the legislators.
San Miguel Times
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