The US congratulated Mexico on the 2021 electoral process

Mexico experienced one of the largest and most important electoral processes in recent years. Not only were more than 19,000 public offices elected, citizen participation also reached historic levels, according to the National Electoral Institute (INE).

After finishing the day, the United States embassy in Mexico congratulated the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador for its success who had the votes:

Congratulations to Mexico for concluding a successful electoral process. Mexico is our Partner, Neighbor Friend and we will continue to work with elected officials!

This time, more than 90 million Mexicans came out to decide the direction of the country. The INE announced that participation exceeded 52% of the electoral roll during the June 6 voting to elect governors, deputies and positions at the local and sub-local level.

The governorships that were at stake were that of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chihuahua Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tlaxcala and Zacatecas.

However, the most significant contest was in the councils, because the Chamber was permeated by legislators who were supportive of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). Preliminary results revealed the possibility that, this time, the executive will not have a majority in Congress.

Everything indicates that President López Obrador would lose the majority in congress.

The INE projection indicates that National Regeneration Movement (Morena) lost the absolute majority, that is, 500 deputies plus one, that it had maintained in recent years and is forecast to have ebetween 190 and 203 seats.

However, could reach that majority with its three allied parties by adding between 265 and 298 seats, if the alliance is maintained.

But still, the ruling coalition loses the qualified majority of two thirds of the seats -necessary to carry out constitutional reforms-, which currently has with a total of 333 seats.

“It is a defeat for López Obrador, not overwhelming, but it does weaken him and his project. because it requires constitutional reforms,” told the AFP the political scientist and historian José Antonio Crespo.

The qualified majority is key in the anti-neoliberal crusade of the leftist president, which aims to return control of the energy sector to the State, contrary to the laws that opened the door to private companies in 2014.

The new Lower House, which is elected every three years, will take office on September 1. The Senate, also dominated by Morena, is renewed every six years.

On Sunday they were elected, in addition, 15 out of 32 governorships and more than 21,000 local offices. Morena would have conquered at least eight governorates, which represents progress as he currently leads six states, according to quick counts.

End of election day in Álvaro Obregón mayorship. Mexico City, June 6, 2021.

The elections represented an advance for the opposition.

The National Action (PAN), Institutional Revolutionary (PRI) and Democratic Revolution parties, which were presented in alliance, will total between 181 and 213 seats. They currently number 139.

“It is an important victory for the opposition because it was able to capitalize on the discontent. Although the reality is that they voted against López Obrador, not for them,” Crespo pointed out.

Morena also lost control of several mayors in Mexico City which he had always controlled, according to preliminary official counts. The left has ruled the capital since 1997, but the central mayor’s office was not in dispute.

However, AMLO has a current popularity of more than 60%, which is based on vast social programs, according to surveys. The president was elected in 2018 for a six-year term.