Saturday, April 02, 2005

The next political battle after the desafuero

The voted Friday 3-1 in the congressional committee to proceed with a full vote in the Chamber of Deputies on whether to remove Lopez Obrador's immunity from prosecution for an alleged minor violation of a court order by someone under him. (It's never been demonstrated that he knew that construction continued at the site, and some claim that the original court order was ambiguous regarding the construction restrictions.) A full vote will happen this week, and it is expected that they will support the desafuero.

But...another battle will begin shortly. As with so many laws in Mexico (e.g., the one regarding window tint on cars....which does not indicate whether it applies only to cars registered in the city or all cars in the city, but I digress), the rules regarding appointing a new mayor of Mexico City are vague and/or contradictory.

I can't link to the original Reforma story here, because everything is subscriber only. But, according to something I read there on Friday, the rules indicate that if the mayor resigns or is unable to complete his term, the general assembly of the city will appoint the replacement. This would leave the decision in the hands of the Mayor's party, the PRD.

But, another article says that if the mayor is "removed" from office, then the Senate of the national government will select the replacement. The Senate is dominated by the PRI.

Distribution of seats in the Senate

Image hijacked from www.senado.gob.mx

PRD leaders have already declared the the General Assembly of the DF plans to appoint AMLO's replacement and will fight any interference from the federal government.

It will be interesting to see if the PRI lets the PRD appoint AMLO's replacement.

posted by Michelle @ 2:31 PM,

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