All the spotlights of Mexican politics are already on the expected presidential race and successor to Andrés Manuel López Obrador. That’s what the President wanted, knowing that this was a discussion that could overshadow almost any other debate. This Saturday he again referred to the 2024 horizon, calling for a generational change but warning that he had more than two years left at the head of government. “I’ve got power, I hit over 300,” he said, using a common baseball simile. “I will deliver at the end of September 2024, but we still have two years and three months and we will do much more for the benefit of the people.”
López Obrador chaired an event in the state of Mexico today where he inaugurated three new branches of Banco del Bienestar in the hands of PRI Governor Alfredo del Mazo, with whom he has shown harmony, as in past leaders who were opposed to that he invited at the end of his term to join his project. In 2023, state elections will be held in this area, which are considered a rehearsal for the presidential elections. But the chief executive has stretched out his hand and is asking for “unity.” “Although we belong to different parties, we must work together, united. Now, when the campaigns come, everyone grabs their party, but since there is no campaign yet, the only goal is to serve the people,” he stressed.
Amidst applause, statements of support and sympathizers who encouraged him to stay for another six years, the President once again flatly rejected this scenario, which incidentally is not foreseen in the Constitution. “I’ll explain to you, see, why I’m not running for re-election? First, as a question of ideals. Remember the principle, the motto of effective suffrage, effective voting, effective democracy, no re-election, of the apostle of democracy, Francisco I. Madero,” he stressed in reference to the former president and leader of the Mexican Revolution.
“Secondly, because you have to look for a generational change. And third, something very important, not to get too attached to power or money,” the President added. The so-called bottle cap game has become a popular exercise in political analysis within Morena’s ranks and outside the party. With the approval of López Obrador himself, Mexico City’s Prime Minister Claudia Sheinbaum, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Interior Minister Adán Augusto López are fighting over the successor. The three held a huge rally last Sunday in Toluca, the capital of the state of Mexico, of all places, to kick off the 2023 election campaign and the race for the presidency.
They are joined by other high officials of the ruling movement, such as the parliamentary group leader in the Senate, Ricardo Monreal, who has been protesting alleged favoritism for weeks and even denounced the attempt to exclude him from the competition. The President assures that he has invited everyone to attend, including Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier and Ambassador to the United States Esteban Moctezuma. In this context, he wanted to warn this Saturday that he still has more than two years ahead of him at the head of the government and the political project known as the Fourth Transformation. After lawmakers rejected the possibility of electrical reform aimed at giving a state-owned company, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), majority control of the market, two key initiatives remain: electoral reform and the National Guard.
“I’ll add something else: I’m already in shock, too,” joked López Obrador before the militants gathered in the municipality of Acambay. But immediately afterwards he asserted that he had enough strength to complete his term and finish building his legacy to do “much more for the good of the people,” he asserted.
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