The General Council of the Electoral Institute of Mexico City (IECM) did not rule out holding more than three debates between Clara Brugada, Santiago Taboada and Salomón Chertorivsky, pre-candidates for the head of government, as long as there are resources and the necessary technical elements.
However, during an extraordinary session he rejected the proposal of the representative of the Citizen Movement (MC), Rolfy Torres, for the organization to force candidates for popular representation positions to attend these exercises of confrontation of ideas.
The electoral counselor Carolina del Ángel presented the agreement to carry out at least 54 debates between the standard-bearers for the popularly elected positions that will be at stake this year, such as the capital’s head of government, mayors and single-member, multi-member councils and the migrant council.
He said that carrying out the exchange of ideas enhances the right of citizens to have more and better information, which will have an impact on the knowledge of the candidates, platforms and proposals.
In this sense, he reported that the confrontations of ideas will have to comply with 29 provisions so that there is freedom of expression, equity, equal treatment, access to information, transparency and the participation of those who participate.
The electoral advisor recalled that the law requires the IECM to hold three debates between the candidates for head of government, but, she clarified, that this is not limiting because there is the option of carrying out more exercises of this type, except for those that are required. by the candidacies themselves.
In answering the proposal of the MC representative, he clarified that the obligation for candidates to attend the exchange of ideas with their contenders lacks a legal basis and neither do the current electoral regulations stipulate a sanction for anyone who refuses to participate.
In this regard, the electoral advisor Ernesto Ramos supported this position, he believed that the candidate who refuses to debate sends a message of grievance to the citizens, “if a candidate does not have enough respect to attend a debate and show and contrast their ideas in front of the citizens, the citizens have the ability to claim it and claim it in reality,”
The General Council of the IECM also approved that civil, academic, media and citizen groups organize meetings between the candidates.
The representative of the MC, in this case, requested that the organizers notify the IECM of the celebration of these events one day in advance, but the electoral councilors approved that the notification be made 48 hours before the meeting.
Finally, electoral counselor Carolina del Ángel commented that the report will contain the details of the event, the format, the date and place, the moderators, the topics to be discussed, summon all the candidates, that at least two of them attend and There is full guarantee of the application in the meetings of the principles of equity and equal treatment in the format.