In little over four months after becoming incomplete once again, the General Council of the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), still hasn’t filled in the vacancy left by former “civic” advisor Sergio García Ramírez after his resignation on February 1st. Does this delay matter? Ultimately, between 2010 and 2011, the Institute worked for 14 months without three of its advisors. Back then, time didn’t seem important neither for IFE nor the Chamber of Deputies – an institution that, by the way, is responsible for appointing the “civic” advisors – until the 2012 election process was imminent. The reason was the same one which is now claimed: lack of agreements – and negligence – among the majority parties at the Senate. Nowadays, however, circumstances are different. There are no federal elections in the immediate future but there is something whose implications are more concerning for some politicians: the audit reports on campaigns for Deputies and Senators of the previous year.
The controversy for the Monex case in which, allegedly, money of dubious origin was used in delivering monetary benefits to potential voters and limits to Peña Nieto’s campaign expenses were exceeded, is not over yet. In fact, the most important part of this argument will be determined when the campaign accounts of Deputies and Senators of PRI and Partido Verde (Green Party) are revealed. Those who point out the Peña Nieto’s alliance argue that a tricky apportionment was made between resources used in the Presidential campaign and those who were destined to Deputies and Senators seeking to maximize the number of seats at Congress. This so-called accountability redistribution would have falsified Peña’s expenses report, decreasing his own expenditures amount and passing it towards the legislative candidates’ financial column, where it would end up adjusted with the allowed expenditure limits. In this context, regardless of the fact that the accountability of Presidential campaigns ended on January – along with the controversial voting of García Ramírez, exonerating PRI from the Monexgate accusations – the audit reviews of candidates for Congress will occur between June 28th and July 3rd. These procedures will be held with the absence of one of IFE’s advisors, just like several procedures have been made during the past months. However, just like the vote of former General Attorney and former PRI leader was essential in the beginning of 2013, its absence may affect PRI in the coming events.
Meanwhile, PRI is not sitting idly by. On May 29th, the Federal Electoral Court (TEPJF) decided to exhort the Congress’s Permanent Commission in order to call an extraordinary session in the Chamber of Deputies in order to elect the missing IFE advisor. This was due to a complaint issued to the Court by PRI at the beginning of that month. Even though the matter has already reached the Permanent Commission, it was only featured in this week’s current session. It’s worth remembering that, if an extraordinary period were to be summoned, it would still be required to have two thirds of Deputies in order to choose the advisor. That way, we are witnessing a new challenge not for the negotiation abilities of President Peña, but for the skills of the one individual who has been – up till now – quite an expert on the matter: Deputy Manlio Fabio Beltrones. The clock is ticking…
CIDAC
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