You have to be “cynical to ask for an interpretation” of the law on plurinominals: AMLO

“You have to be a cynic, a cretin” to ask for an “interpretation” of the Constitution in search of a different formula for the allocation of plurinominal seats, said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

He stressed that the Constitution and the law on the matter are very clear on this issue, so he once again criticized those who have pointed out that the so-called overrepresentation should be avoided in order to prevent the transformation movement from having a qualified majority in the Chamber of Deputies.

During the morning press conference at the National Palace, the president’s opinion was requested regarding the unanimous approval by the five councilors that make up the Commission of Prerogatives and Political Parties of the National Electoral Institute (INE) of the assignment of proportional representation legislators, from which the strength of Morena and its allies to approve constitutional reforms is confirmed.

In this regard, he commented: “What the conservative bloc is seeking is to violate the Constitution and the law on the matter. How is it possible that they want the Constitution to be interpreted, when it is so precise? Because there is no room for interpretation, but not only that, you have to be cynical, cretinous to be asking for a distribution of the pluronomials different from what has been done in the last 15 years.”

He emphasized that if there were no precedents, the argument of “interpreting” the Magna Carta would be valid. However, he questioned: “So, why the double talk of talking about the rule of law, that the law is the law, but now that they do not want the Constitution to be reformed for the benefit of the people of Mexico and they want to continue maintaining the privileges of a minority, what they ask in a shameless and open manner is: ‘Violate the Constitution’. And that is democratic?”

The head of the Executive recalled that a couple of years ago he sent to Congress an initiative for electoral reform in which, among other things, he proposed eliminating plurinominal spaces in the Legislature, which would reduce the number of deputies from 500 to 300.

“And what did they (the opposition legislators) do? They rejected my proposal. If that were the case, there would be no problem, there would be no question of how the 200 plurinominal deputies would be distributed. Let them approve the initiative that will be discussed in the new Legislature so that there would be no plurinominal deputies, let it be in the Constitution and the problem would be resolved.”

The president criticized the former president of the National Electoral Institute (INE), Lorenzo Córdova, for speaking out against the so-called overrepresentation in a television program.

He stressed that all the participants in the discussion forum on that channel were “from the conservative block, for the sake of democratic balances,” he said ironically. “And I see Lorenzo Córdova there, who was president of the INE. When he was president of the INE, what formula did he apply? Well, the one that is in the Constitution and in the law. Why does he want to change it now and who is he to change it if the Constitution is not modified?”