:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/JFYIO64DAREVDCYAV7O5QKSR54.jpg "At dawn, Plan B was released in the DOF; reforms will not apply to elections in Coahuila and Edomex")
In the first minutes of March 2, the Electoral Reform Plan Bpromoted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), which means that it will come into force on March 3, although its provisions are not applicable to elections in Coahuila and the State of Mexico.
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This decree includes amendments to the General Law on Electoral Institutions and Procedures, the General Law on Political Parties and the Organic Law of the Judiciary of the Federation, in addition to considering the promulgation of the General Law on the Means of Contestation in electoral matters.
The release of Plan B to the DOF initiated the restructuring of the National Electoral Institute (INE) which, on several occasions, has been criticized because of the principle of austerity which governs it.
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Among the most relevant aspects of the decree is the reduction of the National Electoral Professional Service, since it orders the INE to merge its structure with that of the local electoral public bodies (Oples) by legislation to be introduced no later than July 30, 2023.
In addition to this, plan B establishes that the Oples will have to adapt their functioning to maintain “the minimal professional structure”. In this sense, the reforms establish that these bodies will not have permanent municipal or district structures and these can only be installed during electoral processes with a maximum of three electoral advisers (or five, in the extraordinary cases that require it).
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Another of the adjustments to the functioning of the INE which caused great controversy was the reduction of the powers of the holder of the INE Executive Secretarywhich until before the publication of Plan B was Edmond Jacobo Molina.
For example, with the reforms, the Executive Secretary will no longer have the power to appoint members of local and district councils frames. Moreover, he will not be able to carry out the preliminary draft of INE budget to submit it to the Chairman of the General Council for consideration.
“In view of the modification of the attributions of the Executive Secretariat with the entry into force of this decree, the person occupying the said position will cease to exercise his functions as of its publication”, establishes the package of reforms approved by the Congress.
Given this situation, the General Council of INE must appoint, among the Executive Directors, a Head of Office so that, at the ordinary session of May 2023, the new person who will lead the Executive Secretariat for the period is appointed. . .
The reformulation of the concept of government propaganda is another of the issues on which Electoral Reform Plan B has raised the most questions, since it allows officials to express themselves.using their freedom of expression» and in the exercise of their work without their remarks being considered as propaganda.
Thus, government propaganda is considered “writings, publications, images, recordings and projections released from the public budget, labeled specifically for this purpose (…) by a Public Person, in order to disseminate the works, actions or achievements relating to its objects”, as well as information referring to the well-being of citizens and access to public goods or services.
That is to say, the promotion and information about officials, programs, works and other actions relevant to the population will not be called “propaganda”, but as a “social communication campaign”.
According to this account, during the electoral and citizen consultation processes, propaganda actions must be suspended, but social communication campaigns can continue.
Despite questions about Plan B interference in the 2023 Mexico State and Coahuila elections, one of the transitional provisions of the decree issued to the DOF established that these reforms “shall not be applicable” in said processes. .
Let us recall that, in recent days, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) imposed a suspension on Plan B, particularly with respect to the general laws of social communication and administrative responsibilities, to avoid its applicability to the 2023 national elections.
And while it looks like these legal changes will set new rules of the game for the 2024 electionswho will define, among other things, López Obrador’s successor to the presidency, some questions are still unresolved.
For example, the entry into force of Plan B allows both, for the challenge measures against him before the SCJN promoted by opposition parties such as the Institutional Revolutionaries (AT), national action (PAN), the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and Citizen Movement (MC).
It will be the highest judicial authority that will determine whether Plan B and its provisions incur acts of unconstitutionality. However, the deadline for the SCJN to rule on the matter is May 31, 2023, which is why the opposition bloc has accused the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) to intentionally delay the approval of the reform package, since a break was made in December due to the end of the ordinary session.
Additionally, the laws establish that for the Supreme Court to declare Plan B invalid, it must the vote of at least eight of the 11 magistrates of the Superior Chambers, which must ratify the unconstitutionality denounced by the opposition parties.