Mexico president says canceling of ruling party candidates 'anti-democratic'

While questioning the impartiality of the electoral tribunal, as he has many autonomous authorities, Lopez Obrador urged his supporters to accept the ruling and move on. The party will have to pick new candidates for two states after the tribunal upheld provisional rulings to block the pair, but polling suggests that MORENA could still capture the governorships of Guerrero and Michoacan for the first time.


Reuters | Mexico City | Updated: 28-04-2021 20:07 IST | Created: 28-04-2021 20:07 IST
Mexico president says canceling of ruling party candidates 'anti-democratic'
  • Country:
  • Mexico

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday slammed a decision by the top electoral tribunal to block the gubernatorial candidacies of two politicians from his ruling party for failing to submit pre-campaign spending reports. Lopez Obrador said the tribunal's final ruling against Felix Salgado Macedonio, a contender for the state of Guerrero, and Raul Moron, standing for the neighboring state of Michoacan, was an act of provocation.

"It does not have any justification ... it is excessive ... anti-democratic," Lopez Obrador told a news conference. Salgado, a former mayor of the tourist resort of Acapulco, had been running for Lopez Obrador's National Regeneration Movement (MORENA). However, Salgado's campaign was clouded by allegations of rape against him, which he has rejected.

Lopez Obrador had repeatedly defended Salgado, arguing the accusations were politically motivated. However, his support for him had generated widespread condemnation from feminist groups and even some members of MORENA. While questioning the impartiality of the electoral tribunal, as he has many autonomous authorities, Lopez Obrador urged his supporters to accept the ruling and move on.

The party will have to pick new candidates for two states after the tribunal upheld provisional rulings to block the pair, but polling suggests that MORENA could still capture the governorships of Guerrero and Michoacan for the first time. Lopez Obrador has frequently railed against electoral authorities, arguing that he was the victim of voter fraud during his unsuccessful campaigns for the presidency in 2006 and 2012. In 2018, he was finally elected by a landslide.

Later in his news conference, he said he planned to send initiatives to Congress to reform Mexico's autonomous bodies such as government watchdogs and regulators that he says are unnecessary or lacking impartiality. (Editing by Alison Williams)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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