Rules and prohibitions for disseminating the Revocation of Mandate were approved by Congress

The Federal Law on the Revocation of Mandate was approved in September 2021 by federal deputies and senators of the Republic, and article 35 of the Political Constitution of Mexico establishes the criteria for its realization in addition to the rules that must be met for its dissemination.

The Constitution establishes in a timely manner that only the INE and local (state) public bodies will promote citizen participation and will be the only body in charge of their dissemination. It also indicates that no other natural or legal person, whether in his own capacity or on behalf of third parties, may contract propaganda on radio and television aimed at influencing the opinion of citizens.

The government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been critical of the rigidity of the ban and the precautionary calls for some of his morning conferences. by INE itself and the Electoral Tribunal, and from space in his daily conference he has pointed out the advisors of the Institute of “Anti-Democracy”.

However, the National Electoral Institute argues that the reasons for making some calls for attention to the dissemination of the Mandate Revocation from the morning itself is because it considers that government propaganda is made through these morning spaces in which the head of the Executive has the attention of all the media.

The response of the Institute and the Tribunal is that they act in accordance with constitutional guidelines, which order that during the period of the revocation of the mandate, from the convocation until the end of the day, the dissemination in the media of all government propaganda should be suspended of any order of government.

The Reform approved by the Congress of Union establishes that public authorities, autonomous bodies, public administration units and entities and any other entity of the three levels of government may only disseminate information campaigns relating to education and health services or those necessary to civil protection.

In September 2021, the Congress of the Union approved in the Federal Law on the Revocation of Mandate the guidelines for this exercise, however, on Thursday, March 10, in the Chamber of Deputies, where Morena and her allied parties have a majority, an interpretation decree was approved by which the concept of propaganda is resolved government, to establish that the “expressions” of public servants are not considered as propaganda and thus not be prohibited during the electoral ban of any exercise of citizen participation, including the revocation of mandate consultation.

This amendment, which affects the Law on the Revocation of Mandate, occurred after some legislators of Morena and several governors who are part of the ranks of the same party, publicly spoke out on this exercise in favor of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, suggesting that it would be ratified by the majority of the village.

In response to calls from the National Electoral Institute (INE) to withdraw electoral propaganda on the occasion of the Mandate Revocation, Mario Delgado, Morena's national leader, demanded that electoral reform be carried out on the grounds that the advisors of this Institute are biased and prohibit the dissemination of the Mandate Revocation.

Mario Delgado's response came after the denunciation of the parties PAN, PRI, PRD against the placement of 278 spectacular advertisements, 21 elements of propaganda adhered to urban equipment, 36 fences and 11 tarpaulins, deployed in 15 states of the Republic.

These were taken by the INE as propaganda not genuinely citizen, since it was the possible result of a simulation in the form of a strategy at the national level.

For this reason, several of Morena's representatives, as well as legislators and governors who belong to the ranks of Andrés Manuel López Obrador's government, have questioned the INE's decisions to remedy violations of the electoral ban.

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