Abolition of the Mandate in Mexico – El Sol de México

On April 10, 2022, the first consultation on the abolition of the term of the President of the Republic will be held in our country. This figure of direct democracy, in which the people participate (popular sovereignty) is, in the broad sense, a procedure that allows citizens to remove, through universal and direct suffrage, a political authority, a ruling person, or an elected public official.

In the Congress of the Union, the consensus necessary to give the electorate a normative framework for this democratic practice was built. This was regulated in the Federal Mandate Abolition Act, published on September 14, 2021.

Article 1 of that regulation reads the message: “This Act regulates Section IX of Article 35 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, with respect to the abolition of the term of the President of the Presidency.”

The abolition of mandate is a mechanism to abide by what is stipulated, among other things, in Article 39 of the Constitution, which states: “National sovereignty is the basis of the people in the first place. Every public authority stems from the people and is established in their interest. People at all times have the inalienable right in changing or modifying the form of their government.

Undoubtedly the legal embodiment of delegating is the result of a growing commitment to and consolidation of democracy, so that we can all freely decide whether or not the President of the Republic has concluded the term for which he was elected, in this case, 2018-2024.

This is not the first time in Mexico that the president has allowed the continuity of his office to the people, but the repeal figure would set a democratic precedent so that no one would feel absolute in power, as the president himself had expressed it. Federal executive branch.

President Lopez Obrador has indicated that even if the 40 percent of the vote required for the exercise to be binding is not reached, he will leave office if the majority of citizens who go to the polls do not give him the confidence to continue as president. executive.

This means that, for example, if an overall citizen participation rate of 39 percent is obtained, a majority (say, 51 percent) is in favor of the change, and a minority (such as 49 percent) because of its continuity, the president will leave his responsibility as head of state and government .

Participatory democracy means, among other aspects, that popular sovereignty decides whether or not the ruling person has complied with the obligations made or with the expectations expected of him. In addition, the abolition of delegation is the motive that will allow directing the demands of the citizens through institutional and democratic means, not forgetting that the government with the support of the majority will have renewed legitimacy and power to pursue the policies or changes demanded by the population. .

Another advantage offered by this mechanism is that the ruling person must be close to the community in order to listen to its needs. allows the people to influence the decision-making process, by certifying or not certifying, in this case, the head of the federal executive; Citizens tend to be made aware of the actions of the government; It also permits a greater sense of responsibility in public officials, such as the President of the Republic, for he will be subject to the said procedure from time to time, if so determined by popular sovereignty; It is also a process that strengthens the representative system, since in judging the decisions of the government, embodied in the president, he must abide by the expectations of the citizens, under pain of his removal from power.

In this context, repealing the mandate revitalizes the democratic principles of accountability, popular sovereignty, universal and direct suffrage, media, representation, and political participation in our country.

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