Mexico’s Supreme Court has suspended “Plan B,” proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to reform the National Electoral Institute (INE). The plan involved a series of changes to the secondary electoral laws, such as cuts to INE’s budget and powers, the imposition of gender parity in candidacies, modification of the electoral calendar, and allowing people in pretrial detention to vote. The suspension was granted after INE requested the suspension of the reform voted on in February in Congress, arguing that it could violate the political and electoral rights of the citizenry.
In its communiqué, the Court stated that it normally decrees suspensions when norms may infringe on human rights, and in this case, it could be a “possible violation of the political-electoral rights of the citizenry.” The Court has granted INE’s petition, granting the requested suspension with respect to all the challenged articles of “Plan B,” so that things remain in the state in which they are today and the provisions in force before the respective reform will take effect.
In 2020, López Obrador promoted an electoral reform that, among other aspects, proposed the disappearance of INE, but, as it implied constitutional changes, it did not obtain the necessary votes in Congress. Subsequently, he presented a second proposal, “Plan B,” which only modified secondary laws and went into effect. The suspension of ‘Plan B’ could generate political tension as the June midterm elections are approaching and there is a power struggle between the President and INE.