Smiling, Carmen arrived at her voting booth in Mexico City to support the continuity in the position of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, during the recall referendum this Sunday, which Rubén, on the other hand, sees as a useless exercise.
“Why come today? Because I like the president very much, and if he is asking for it, here I am », said Carmen Sobrino following voting in the central Del Valle neighborhood, accompanied by her husband and her dog.
This 64-year-old housewife is so satisfied with the performance of López Obrador, in power since 2018, that she even proposes that he repeat in office, something that the Constitution does not allow.
«I am happy with him, I hope he continues and repeats. Sure!” she added.
AMLO, as the leftist president is known by the initials of his name, was elected until 2024, but promoted the consultation following the Congress -with an official majority- incorporated it into the Magna Carta in 2019 so that citizens can revoke the mandate in the middle of the period.
The neighborhood where the woman voted is in the Benito Juárez district, a stronghold of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), where the ruling party Morena received a severe setback in the 2021 legislative and regional elections.
As the day progressed, polling stations like Sobrino’s were increasingly crowded, especially with older adults, among the main beneficiaries of the 68-year-old president’s social programs.
“Why spend that money?”
For Flor Mercedes Rodríguez, a 59-year-old economist, the recall is the opportunity to “resume the culture of citizen participation.” “It is the support of democracy (…) For the president to continue, moreover!”
But critics of López Obrador, whose popularity is around 58% according to polls, see it as an exercise aimed at strengthening his position in the middle of the government.
In several points of the megacity, announcements were displayed with the legend “keep AMLO going!” and “the president is not alone!”
In contrast, the opposition called for not participating with slogans such as “finish and leave!”, alleging that it is a whim of the president and therefore an unnecessary expense.
“I am not interested, it is not of my interest, although it is something that concerns all Mexicans,” said Rubén López, a 58-year-old salesman.
“Regardless of what he says or doesn’t say, he is going to continue as president, I don’t understand why spend the money,” he added.
However, Laura Mena, in line to vote in the central Roma neighborhood, said that Mexicans would have “saved a lot of trouble” if in the past they had “been able to evaluate their rulers following three years.”
“What interests me is that it be a practice every three years that we can evaluate our presidents,” he said.
Despite the enthusiasm in the official ranks, experts estimate that it will be difficult for the exercise to reach the 37 million votes necessary for the result to be binding, in part because of the little interest that the call aroused.
The vote also coincided with Palm Sunday, a significant date for Catholicism, which marks the beginning of the Easter holidays. Almost 78% of the 126 million Mexicans profess that religion, according to official figures.
