Mexicans Demonstrate Across The Country Against Changes By President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

The greatest protest against one of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's proposals during his nearly four years in government, tens of thousands of people filled the main boulevard of the Mexican capital to oppose his plan to reform the electoral system, said reports.

Mexicans were urged by opposition parties and civil society organizations to protest on Sunday, Nov. 13, in the nation's capital and other towns in opposition to proposed changes that would reshape the National Electoral Institute, one of the nation's most prized and trusted institutions.

Although opponents claim that Lopez Obrador's proposals would endanger the institute's independence and make it more political, he views the institution as beholden to the elite. As part of the initiative, state-level electoral offices will be abolished, public funding for political parties will be cut, and voters would choose members of the electoral authority rather than the lower chamber of Congress.

It would also reduce the number of legislators in the lower chamber of Congress from 500 to 300 and senators from 128 to 96 by eliminating at-large lawmakers. They are not directly elected by voters but appear on party lists and get seats based on their party’s proportion of the vote.

The proposal is expected to be discussed in the coming weeks in Congress, where the president’s party, the National Regeneration Movement, and its allies hold an advantage.

One of the protest's organizers, Fernando Belaunzaran, claimed that 200,000 people took part in the march.

Obrador has fought electoral authorities for several years. Even though the National Electoral Institute verified his decisive win in the 2018 presidential election, he frequently believes that he has been the victim of electoral fraud.

Organizers have said the march was organized not against Lopez Obrador but to draw attention to the proposed reforms and to urge lawmakers to vote against them.

Without opposition backing, Lopez Obrador's party does not have enough votes to pass constitutional amendments.

During his daily morning news briefings last week, Lopez Obrador spent a significant amount of time criticizing the organizers of the march, labeling them "corrupt" and "cretins" who intended to deceive the public. He supported the idea on the grounds that it aimed to cut the budget for the election body and prevent "electoral fraud".