Elections analyst Jorge Alcocer, founder of the magazine Voz y Voto, warned that advancing the recall referendum «has no other purpose than to get President Sheinbaum on the ballot and allow Morena and former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to carry out proselytizing from next year». During an interview with Aristegui en Vivo, Alcocer considered this to be «starting a campaign for 2027 now», by linking the recall with a «complex» electoral process that will include federal elections, 17 governorships, 31 local legislatures, and more than 1,700 municipalities, as well as the election of magistrates for the Judicial Branch of the Federation. The specialist described the proposal as a «stratagem» that would take advantage of a «curious coincidence»: the constitutional requirement that the recall request be supported by 3% of the electoral roll distributed in at least 17 states, the same ones where governorships will be renewed that year. Likewise, he dismissed the argument that the measure seeks to save resources by combining the recall with the regular election. Currently, this process can be requested within the three months following the third year of the constitutional term; with the modification, it can be requested within the six months prior to the end of the third year. It is also proposed that the recall vote be held on the same day and during the intermediate election day, where federal deputies and deputies are elected, unlike the current scheme, which establishes a separate process on a different date. The project establishes that the reform would enter into force the day after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation. In addition, the norms that contradict what was approved would be eliminated and the Congress would have 180 days to make the necessary changes in the law. Getting Sheinbaum on the ballot: Alcocer. The decision to postpone the analysis occurs amidst the debate over the political implications of the reform. The Constitutional Points Commission of the Chamber of Deputies postponed until further notice the meeting scheduled for Monday, where the constitutional reform project on the recall of mandate would be discussed, which would make it possible to hold it in the 2027 intermediate elections. The session, convened for Monday afternoon, was postponed at the request of the president of the Political Coordination Board, the Morenista Ricardo Monreal, in order to seek agreements among the different parliamentary groups, reported the president of the Commission, Leonel Godoy Rangel. The dictamen modifies the requirements to request a recall referendum and the dates for its holding, so that, if it comes to fruition, it would coincide with the 2027 intermediate elections. Deputy Ricardo Monreal explained that he requested the postponement «so that debate is broadened among the deputies, to deliberate». In a press conference, he detailed that he has held conversations with the parliamentary coordinators of all the groups represented in the Chamber: «They have asked me not to be hasty, that we wait today and that we can do it after a few days of having analyzed the topic. They consider it a «sucker punch», they have said so publicly and they have told me so». Monreal specified that the intention is «to give more days to the discussion» and clarified: «We are not doing anything improper and if historical, moral, political reason is on our side, we have no reason to rush on such an important issue». He also said that he will talk with the author of the initiative, the Morenista deputy Alfonso Ramírez Cuéllar, so that «he allows for a greater discussion» and did not rule out that the analysis will be carried out once the Executive presents its electoral reform. The legislator rejected that the initiative is going to be stopped: «We are not leaving anything in the freezer. We act in consequence, in reason of the interests of the country and the fact that a few more days are given does not mean that this is going to be frozen», he pointed out. What does the constitutional reform project consist of? Among the main changes proposed, it is established that popular consultations would no longer be held on the first Sunday of August, as is currently the case, but on the first Sunday of June, in order to coincide with ordinary electoral processes. As for the recall of the mandate of the person holding the Presidency of the Republic, the reform proposes adjustments both in the deadlines and in the way it is carried out. «If they don't want to spend that money, then let them not promote that there be a recall of the mandate», he affirmed, while emphasizing that the exercise «is not mandatory» and is only convened if the citizen requirements are met. Alcocer recalled that in 2019 it was then the Secretary of the Interior, Olga Sánchez Cordero, who warned President López Obrador that holding the referendum on the same day as an election would violate article 134 of the Constitution, which prohibits public officials from influencing the electoral competition. The analyst described the initiative as «an outrage» and «another brick in that building of authoritarianism» that, in his opinion, seeks «to secure its majority at any cost».
