The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has sent to Congress a package of reforms that would provide the public sector with greater facilities for the construction of projects and limit the prerogatives of private companies. The initiative, which modifies 23 secondary laws, would allow the Federal Administration to start construction works without the need to have all the permits required to date, would facilitate the early termination of contracts with private parties, would reduce the payment of indemnities, and would allow the revocation of permits and concessions of private parties in the interest of the public good. The approval of the reform requires a simple majority of the legislators, a condition that Morena and its allies meet without any problem in the Federal Congress.
Most business voices warn that the changes will mean greater government discretion in the granting of permits and concessions and will affect the rights of suppliers and large companies. On the other hand, analysts affirm that the reforms are positive because the state will recover its central role as a constructor and provider of public services, while private monopolies will be combated.
The reform initiative will establish the obligation to include in all contracts entered into by government agencies at the national and international level an early termination clause for reasons of public interest. It also proposes a new legal figure of “revocation” to annul administrative acts “that may affect the public interest.” In addition, new powers are proposed for the Federal Executive, which could now directly assign to parastatal entities the provision of public services as well as the use and exploitation of federal assets for reasons of public utility or national security. López Obrador has already set this new provision in motion with the creation of a satellite of state-owned companies under the management of the Armed Forces to administer emblematic projects of this administration.