Recall vote: Mexico uses a Swiss democracy tool
(MENAFN- Swissinfo)
The upcoming Mexican popular recall vote will determine the fate of the president in office, Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador. The 69-year-old head of state initiated the vote himself through a non-governmental organisation, betting a strong popular win would breathe life into the last two years of his six-year mandate. The campaign gathered more than the 3% of eligible voters – 2.75 million – needed to validate a recall vote.
Recalls, impeachments and removals The recall vote process (“recall”) is a direct democracy tool which allows a certain number of citizens – in Mexico at least 3% of eligible voters – to initiate a nationwide vote to end or continue the mandate of an elected official, for example the president.
The recall process is similar to an impeachment: an office holder is“recalled” by an authority, but with the extra step of a popular vote. For example, the removal of Romanian president Traian Băsescu was approved by the voters in a popular vote on July 29, 2012. In principle, recalls are“bottom-up”, while impeachments are“top-down”. However, in the current Mexican case it is mixture of both processes as the president himself initiated the recall.
Recalls and impeachments should however not be confused with the removal from office of a magistrate. The first instruments are political decisions by the people or their representatives, while removals on the other hand are legal decisions made by parliaments and courts. The latter are directed against individuals who enjoy legal protection.
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One of the promoters of the recall campaign, Gabriela Jiménez Godoy, an active member of the governing Morena party, described the exercise as“a form of increasing democracy”, while Mexican Tiktok influencer Patty MirandaExternal link recommended a yes-vote so that“Andrés Manuel can keep working for México”.
Meanwhile, all the main opposition parties, including the PRD, PAN and PRI, appealed to Mexicans to not participate in what they call a“plebiscitarian exercise”.“It is simply a waste of time and money,” they said.
This will be the first-ever nationwide recall vote in Mexico. It follows the first experience of a referendum in August 2021 on a new law intended to punish the former president for corruption.
This was also initiated by the current president and ended with the invalidation of the whole process due to a low participation rate: just 7% of eligible voters participated instead of the required 40%. The recall this month risks the same fate. These two initiatives show how difficult and problematic it is to introduce direct democracy from above.
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