Mexico: Discussing the Possibility of Recall Elections · Global Voices
Miguel Angel Guevara

For a number of weeks, the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico has been discussing a political reform that would, according to those in favor of the measure, change the regulations of the Mexican political game and shift the balance of power more towards the citizenry.
On October 25, 2011, after its passage in the Chamber of Deputies committees, the initiative finally reached the floor. However, it lacked elements that its supporters considered essential, such as the reelection of mayors and legislators, and the “recall of the mandate”, most commonly known as recall elections.
This last point was discussed with exceptional intensity in the Chamber and on social networks on October 25.
Recall election
The possibility of implementing recall elections has an echo of importance in a society that feels constantly attacked from many different fronts and furthermore does not feel represented, as Omar Bello (@Think_Omy) expresses:
Pido #RevocaciondeMandato para #JavierDuarte el peor inicio de un gobierno estatal en #Mexico #VerFollow #InfoVeracruz
The initiative was blocked by a group of deputies from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM), and the New Alliance Party (PANAL). This has been considered ironic by many, given the advertising campaign that the PRI has launched to call itself “the new PRI” and associate itself with new ideas and leadership, as Jorge Arturo Aguilar (@Jorge_GuitarP) writes:
En el #nuevoPRI no queremos #cosasnuevas que afecten nuestros viejos intereses aunque beneficien los de ustedes” #RevocacionDeMandato
Sandra GLG (@sandybell08) asks the question that surely many Mexicans are asking themselves:
Si no tienen miedo de los ciudadanos y están seguros de su “buen” trabajo xq no aprueban #RevocacionDeMandato ?? #YoMePregunto
And Doctora (@doctora) tops off with:
¿Cómo hemos podido mantener una clase política tan podrida, tan cínica y tan insensible por tanto tiempo? #RevocacionDeMandato
The unity that PRI maintained in previous debates started to show certain weaknesses when some deputies distanced themselves from the party position, as Maite Azuela (@maiteazuela) tells us:
3 diputados #PRI votaron a favor de revocación de mandato Miguel García Granados, Manuel García Corpus y Ricardo Abued cc @salcamarena
José Merino (@PPMerino) expresses the irony of the situation:
Querid@s votantes, les negamos tener una democracia representativa en la que uds importen. Voten por nosotros en 2012. Atte, PRI-PVEM-PANAL
Jesús Robles Maloof (@roblesmaloof), points out, with his characteristic precision, that,
Podemos apoyar a un partido, a otro o a ninguno, lo que no podemos permitir es que sigan concentrando tanto poder. #RevocaciondeMandato
YONOFUI (@Yonofui) one of the young activists that supports this reform, after such an intense day in the Chamber of Deputies, signed off before going to sleep with a message for everyone:
Creo que lograremos que MX de ese paso hacia adelante, nos va a costar trabajo, pero es muy posible