The constitutional reform in the electricity sector promoted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador entered the final stretch of its approval process in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies this Sunday, following more than 12 hours of discussion in plenary session and without a clear conclusion yet. .
The controversial energy reform seeks to give control of the energy sector to the state company Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and limit private participation in electricity generation to 46% to favor the CFE, accused of having some polluting and obsolete plants.
“With this reform, electric power would stop being a simple commodity and become a public service for Mexicans,” said deputy Moisés Ignacio Mier Velazco, coordinator of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena).
FOUND POSTURES
In the long debate, between insults, recesses, slogans and the opposition’s call to vote once morest the reform, the legislators established their positions regarding the modification of articles 4, 25, 27 and 28 of the Constitution and He estimates that the debate will continue during the early hours of the morning.
Gerardo Fernández Noroña, deputy coordinator of the Labor Party, an ally of Morena, recalled that the reform will pay “national sovereignty in electricity” and stated that it is false that it scares away private investment.
He stated that the initiative included nine of the 12 points proposed by the opposition in its counterproposal.
The president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Alejandro Moreno, stated that they would not allow “an act of treason once morest the country” to be carried out and criticized that the reform would increase rates by more than 27%.
He also said that the non-approval of the reform will be “the biggest defeat” for Morena.
When presenting the position of the PAN on the platform, deputy Jorge Romero Herrera emphasized that they do not agree that there is “hyper-empowerment” of the CFE since they consider that the concurrence of the public and private sectors is necessary.
And he assured that they do not protect the interests of transnational companies and recalled that his proposal includes the creation of a National Commission of Electricity Networks and establishing low rates for those who need it most.
When exposing the positions of their parliamentary groups, deputies from the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and the Citizen Movement (MC) expressed their concern regarding the reform.
Jorge Álvarez Máynez, coordinator of MC, pointed out that they are once morest the reform “because it harms Mexico.”
In turn, Luis Ángel Espinosa Cházaro, from the PRD, pointed out that the ruling does not guarantee low energy prices.
IN SUSPENSE
The controversial constitutional reform in the electricity sector seeks to be approved following last Monday the commissions of Constitutional Points and Energy of the Chamber of Deputies.
However, for this to happen, two thirds of the chambers are required and Morena does not have a qualified majority, so it needed to agree with the opposition, however, from the beginning the opponents expressed their rejection of the reform.
Given the probable scenario that the initiative is not approved, President López Obrador affirmed that his government is “shielded once morest treason.”
“I already said it in my report on Tuesday: whatever happens, we are already armored once morest betrayal. Tomorrow I will explain it once more, ”the president said on his official Twitter account this Sunday while the legislators continued with the discussion of the initiative that lasted for several hours.
While the Political Coordination Board of the Chamber of Deputies (Jucopo) reported that the president has already sent the initiative to reform the Mining Law and maintain the exploitation of lithium under State exclusivity.
THE REFORM IN DISPUTE
The constitutional reform initiative seeks to annul the energy model that was designed in 2013 which, according to the current government, with independent producers, self-supply and auctions, 62% of generators are private and the remaining 38% of electricity It is generated by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).
However, the opposition has criticized that the initiative would lead to an increase in polluting gas emissions and higher electricity prices in the country.
Meanwhile, the domestic and foreign private sector has expressed concern, arguing that the law harms competition and would scare away foreign investment in the country.
