Bittersweet victory for López Obrador's party
The preliminary results of the largest elections in the history of Mexico have curbed the optimism that supporters of López Obrador had shown throughout the day. His party, Morena, continues to be the most voted for by Mexicans, but it begins to notice wear and tear and lose ground to its rivals. The quick count has revealed that the ruling party will depend on its partners to maintain control of the Chamber of Deputies and that, in no case, will they reach a qualified majority, which would allow them to promote reforms of the Constitution. The National Electoral Institute has confirmed that, given the high turnout and the large number of positions at stake, the final results could be known as of Wednesday.
According to the figures published by the INE, shortly before midnight, Morena would obtain between 190 and 203 deputies, compared to the 256 it currently has.. Together with its partners, the Green Party and the Workers' Party, it could reach a maximum of 303, far from the 334 they longed for. In the arc of the opposition the traditional PRI and PAN rise, with a maximum of 75 and 117 seats respectively. His unprecedented coalition 'Va por México', together with the leftist PRD, would have around 200 seats and would serve to raise an important legislative counterweight against the Government.
The race for the 15 governorships that was at stake has been marked by the unanimous and hasty self-proclamation of victory by the majority of candidates. Minutes after the polls closed and two hours before the first results were announced, the Movimiento Ciudadano and PRI-PRD candidates have declared their respective victories. In Guerrero, the Morenista candidate and her PRI rival have also done it. In statements to Milenio, the president of Morena, Mario Delgado, has assured that, according to his data, his party was going to win 12 governorships. Faced with the flood of virtual winners, the INE has branded them as “irresponsible” because “the votes have not been counted” and has asked to avoid celebrations so as not to generate uncertainty.
Despite having been held in the middle of a pandemic, these midterm elections have been the most participatory in the last 10 years, with an estimated rate of 52%.. The authorities have confirmed that only 30 of the 13,175 polling stations have not been able to open and that 21 violent incidents have been registered, although isolated. Some of them have left surreal images: wads of money flying at the doors of the voting centers, human remains abandoned next to lines of voters, theft of electoral material, attacks on officials, armed attacks, kidnappings and the arrest of a hundred persons suspected of having committed electoral crimes.
In the next few hours, President López Obrador is scheduled to appear at the National Palace to analyze the results of the elections. In recent months, the Mexican leader has intensified his campaign of harassment against the INE because he believes that it is not impartial; He has even gone as far as threatening to disappear the organization as he considers it “a danger to democracy”. Pending the official results, the figures revealed so far open a new political scenario in Mexico coinciding with the halfway point of the six-year term and with an eye on the 2024 presidential elections.