Declaring that “citizens must have the final word,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has officially asked the Senate to vote on whether to call a national referendum that would decide if five former presidents face criminal prosecution for alleged acts of corruption.
The president made the unprecedented move this week after a campaign by activists to obtain two million signatures to trigger a referendum appeared to be struggling to reach its target.
Before they pass a resolution calling for a referendum, senators must obtain approval on the constitutionality of the exercise from the Supreme Court (SCJN), a process that must be concluded within 20 working days.
Several commentators noted that Lopez Obrador’s apparent haste was likely driven by a clause in the law stipulating that requests for national referendums must be submitted by September 15 in the year prior to federal elections. (In July 2021, Mexicans will go to the polls to elect to elect 500 representatives to sit in the Chamber of Deputies, as well as 16 state governors, 1,067 state legislators and 1,926 municipal mayors.)
No former president in Mexico has ever stood trial for alleged crimes committed while in office. If a referendum goes ahead – also on July 6, 2021 – and the Mexican people vote in favor of trials, the country would enter a period of political intrigue and potential instability.
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