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Who is in charge here?

Photo: on presidente.gob.mx

Antonio Navalón

Beyond the euphoria and the populist orgy, at this time, it is complicated for Mexicans to understand where we are as a society and as a country. It is difficult for those of us who live here to clearly discern who holds power. Trying to put yourself in the president’s shoes and understand how she lives through all that is happening is no easy task.

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The world continues to question who she really is. During the mañaneras conferences, she has offered lessons in coherence, seriousness, and a direct style, with little room for verbalism and dialectics, especially in comparison to her predecessor. This is surprising, considering that the “mañaneras” are a direct product of the use of words. However, beyond correcting inaccuracies and responding to the questions and intoxications of the day, it is crucial that clear guidelines be given and offered to the people of Mexico on the actions of the one who holds the executive power, which, until now, has been the most relevant in Mexico’s modern history.

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Last week, two men of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s complete confidence -and it is a lot to say “confidence” in the former president’s intimate language- surprised everyone in Mexico and the whole world. The constitutional supremacy initiative presented by Morena sought to limit the powers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation with respect to constitutional reforms. In particular, Morena intended that the Supreme Court could not interfere with or dismiss judicial reform proposals and that judges, ministers, and magistrates would be elected by popular vote.

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This attempt not only threatened to break the balance of powers but, in case of doubt or political necessity, the popular will, backed by Congress, could always interpret any conflict arising in national life. The most serious aspect of this process is that the Judiciary is gradually relegated, becoming a merely decorative instance.

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Finally, and for the country’s benefit, the coordinator of the Morena senators, Adán Augusto López, rectified and declared that reforming the first constitutional article, which was intended to prevent the Judicial Power from interfering in the decisions of the Congress, would be controversial. However, this episode made it clear that, from now on, whoever controls the Legislative Branch will also control the Executive Branch.

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In this second floor of the Fourth Transformation, the autonomy of judges is being replaced by popular election. An elected judge will not only have the people’s validation but also the power to impose his own rules, which poses a democratic risk. It is very dangerous to go back to Robespierre’s time not only because of the terror, but also because the judge who is more in tune with the people will acquire a kind of democratically dangerous power and authority. In spite of this, the president knows that to govern, she needs order, and she also knows that it is risky to empower judges who are too attuned to the people, as they could acquire a dangerous power.

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Meanwhile, on a parallel plane of the same movie, the young leaders of Morena are touring the country, multiplying messages of optimism and structuring a policy that transcends the simple exercise of power. They have millions of members and a legislative and popular majority and seek to consolidate themselves as the only valid political expression in Mexico.

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I want to avoid the simplified and elementary argument that he who was in charge is still in charge because, even if this is true, it is unfeasible. And it is because at this point, after more than 35 million votes, the president and her government naturally have every right to make mistakes on their own. However, the question that arises then is: where does the president stand? How will the elements of power really be configured when, besides Morena, the only actor with relevant power is the Green Party?

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Everything with and for the people. That has been the objective and the plan of action since July 1, 2018, and it continues to this day. However, there is a slight confusion about how it is that this way of governing was to be implemented because it is one thing to include the people in the political becoming and quite another thing to pretend that the people act freely and with full consciousness about what is best for the country. From here on, who or what entity will guarantee the fulfillment of the commitments? Why continue investing and spending in campaigns and ballots if, in the end, the people will demonstrate by a show of hands so richly and have much less time to waste?

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This government is the interpreter of the popular will. It is true that it should not be forgotten that the will of the people is as evanescent as your will or mine. What we think today, no one in his right mind can guarantee that it will still be the same thought in 6 days, 6 months, or 6 years. That is why, from the Roman Empire to the present day, structures of power representation have governed societies, and the struggle of the elites against the populus has always been the dominant element of tension in any structure. 

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At this moment, the elites are the ones that have disappeared, the ones that are gone, and the ones that have no place anymore. Everyone – and this is not new as it has happened many times in our history – governs in the name of the people. But let us not forget that these people have been mutilated in an important part of their being. One can be for or against judicial reform, but it is undeniable that the judicial system was not working as it should. Justice was neither prompt nor, in most cases, fair. The problem is that to solve this problem; it is necessary to have, on the one hand, excellent preparation and big and clear ideas that guarantee that whoever wants to be a judge only seeks to be a judge and does not use trials or convictions as election campaigns. This is one of the great problems of this reform promoted by Morena and its allies that it will have to be very objective and impartial to avoid the actions of the judges ending up becoming a kind of political campaign to cheer up those who govern from Congress and, at the same time, guarantee their election.

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This play in three acts requires a final libretto that answers the only relevant question: who is in charge here?

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