Extraordinary elections suspended in Pantelhó, Chiapas, to avoid ‘bloodbath’ – El Financiero

TUXTLA GUTIÉRREZ, Chis; August 23.- To avoid “a bloodbath”members of District Council Number 2 of the National Electoral Institute (INE) based in Bochil, agreed this Friday cancel the extraordinary elections in Pantelhówhere municipal authorities will be elected this Sunday, August 25.

After the municipal elections in Pantelhó, Chicomuselo and Capitán Luis A. Vidal were not held on June 2, this Friday the electoral body warned that there are no conditions of governability and security in the region andThey revealed that a polling station official was murdered last Thursday, the 22nd.

The councilors of the District Board 02 of the INE met today Friday where they agreed to request the Institute of Elections and Citizen Participation (IEPC) deregister 28 polling stations which would be installed for the electoral day of August 25 in the municipality of Pantelhó, due to the lack of security conditions to hold the elections to elect the mayor and the entire municipal body.

The matter will then be brought before the State Congress so that it can proceed to call for other extraordinary elections or form a Municipal Government Council for next October 1st.

During the session, the secretary counselor, Hugo Solomon Santiago Espinosaread the document (INE/JDE02-CHIS/VE/209/2024) that the collegiate body sent to the INE delegate in Chiapas, Claudia Rodríguez Sánchez, to ask the Sedena, National Guard, State Preventive Police and the Government Secretariat of Chiapas, for a “report on whether the conditions of security, governability, and validity of the constitutional rule of law exist in the municipality of Pantelhó, Chiapas, for the celebration of the electoral day next Sunday, August 25, 2024.”

They explained that, in response, the INE delegate sent a new letter (INE/CL/580/2024) to Cecilia Flores, Secretary of Government of Chiapas, to request a general report on the security and governance situation in the municipalities of Pantelhó, Chicomuselo, and Capitán Luis Ángel Vidal, the latter two where extraordinary elections are also planned to be held, due to the fact that they were suspended on June 2 due to the violence that exists in those places.

The government official, in a new letter, SGG/OS/207/2024, responded that “based on what was reported by the competent authorities in the matter, during the most recent session of the security and protection strategy table in the context of the 2024 extraordinary elections, we are aware that said situation in the municipalities in question has not presented significant variation.”

Los INE advisorsin the session, they considered that since the conditions of insecurity have not changed, “as far as we are concerned, in Pantelhó, we ask (the IEPC) to adjust the list of polling stations downwards, to safeguard the life and physical integrity of citizens and electoral officials.”

“We cannot assume the responsibility of providing physical security or governance, because that is not our role. The failure of the competent authorities in this area to provide governance and security could lead to a bloodbath on election day in the municipality of Pantelhó, for which we do not want to be morally or legally responsible,” they explained.

In this regard, they announced that they will not hold the follow-up session scheduled for August 25, the date of the election.

In Pantelhó, the armed group of The Machetes and his adversaries The Herrerashave been fighting for control of that municipality since July 2021. What has left Dead, missing and displaced in the region.