Tens of thousands of people have packed the Mexican capital’s main boulevard to protest President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s proposal to overhaul the electoral authority, turning out in the largest demonstration against one of the president’s policies during his nearly four years in office.
Opposition parties and civil society organizations called on Mexicans to demonstrate on Sunday in the capital and other cities against proposed reforms that would remake the National Electoral Institute, one of the country’s most prized and trusted institutions.
Lopez Obrador sees the institute as beholden to the elite, but critics say his reforms would threaten its independence and make it more political.
The initiative includes eliminating state-level electoral offices, cutting public financing of political parties and allowing the public to elect members of the electoral authority rather than the lower chamber of Congress.
It would also reduce the number of legislators in the lower chamber of Congress from 500 to 300 and senators from 128 to 96 by eliminating at-large lawmakers.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
