INE Counselor Calls for Consensus in New Member Appointments

It is the duty of everyone and each one, and if someone fails in that duty, it will be their responsibility,” he stated. After nine years in what is called the horseshoe of democracy, Jaime Rivera indicated that his time at the institution has been a mix of light and shadow, as he affirmed that the INE has fulfilled its function of organizing elections, some of which he described as extraordinary and rushed, such as the judicial one or the recall of the mandate, but it has also faced a constant siege on its autonomy, with the critical point being the 2022 electoral reform pushed by former president López Obrador that failed and the subsequent plan B that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional. “There have been difficult moments in recent years where there have been disqualification campaigns against the INE, a siege on its autonomy and sometimes pressures for the INE to make decisions one way or another, but the INE, endowed with autonomy and with the commitment of counselors to adhere to the law, has resisted and must continue to do so,” he stated. “With this design, still imperfect and mutilated in its composition, I hope that prudence and democratic duty prevail so that the appointments of these three council positions are made by the broadest possible consensus”. Rivera said that even with the weakening of the committee, the three new counselors have the duty to act impartially, as it is a constitutional obligation. “It is the duty of all counselors, of the 11, to act impartially and with independence in decision-making. And the other three should be appointed by the consensus of the Coordinating Board of the Chamber of Deputies. Counselor Jaime Rivera warned that the Technical Evaluation Committee that will choose the three new members of the National Electoral Institute (INE) is weakened, since after the extinction of the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (Inai), which had the power to appoint two representatives, the decision now falls to five members appointed by two bodies that – he said – have shown a lack of impartiality: the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the Coordinating Board of the Chamber of Deputies. In an interview with El Financiero, counselor Rivera – who along with counselors Claudia Zavala and Dania Ravel will leave the General Council of the INE on April 4 after completing the term for which he was appointed – said that prudence and democratic duty must prevail so that the appointments reach the broadest consensus and the lottery is not repeated, as happened in 2023. “That technical committee is already weakened because Inai, which they already extinguished, proposed two of its seven members, two others are proposed by the National Human Rights Commission, well, it appoints them, which has not shown much impartiality”.