López Obrador splits Mexico’s opposition with plan to boost military Constitutional amendment places National Guard under control of generals for the first time.
The government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador has received a boost ahead of state elections next year after a plan to give more power to Mexico’s military fractured an already weak opposition coalition.
A constitutional amendment authorising the defence ministry to oversee Mexico’s public security until 2028 was passed last week after the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) — one of three opposition partners — dropped its opposition and backed López Obrador’s plan. Alejandro Moreno, the PRI’s leader, was facing accusations of corruption and critics claim his volte face was aimed at protecting him from prosecution, which he denies.
“What happened was completely predictable,” said Fernando Dworak, a Mexican political analyst. “The entire traditional political class has skeletons in the closet and is especially vulnerable to any scandal.”
The PRI voted with the ruling Morena party and its allies to overcome the two-thirds threshold necessary for altering Mexico’s constitution. The lower house of congress approved the amendment Wednesday night and it now moves to the Senate. In response, the PRI’s partners — the National Action Party (PAN) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) — suspended the coalition.
The opposition is now in disarray ahead of state elections next year in two longtime PRI strongholds — Coahuila in northern Mexico and Mexico state, which surrounds Mexico City on three sides — and the 2024 presidential elections.
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