One of the most grotesque moments of the post-election protests of 2006, in which López Obrador claimed to have been robbed, was the day of Felipe Calderón’s inauguration as President of the Republic, on December 1 of that year, when allies of his movement took over the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro and tried to block access to the premises with seats, chairs, objects, to induce, they said, a constitutional crisis in the absence of a President.
All parties had their voting records. In fact, the candidates were very close, but the PAN candidate won legitimately. There was never any evidence of the alleged electoral fraud. It was a call for revenge, not justice.
More recently, on January 6, 2021, incited by Donald Trump, a violent group of supporters took over the Capitol in Washington, the day Joe Biden’s victory as US president was to be ratified. They destroyed everything in their path. They sought to force congressmen to ratify Trump as president, without any paper to support them, just because they believed that, encouraged by the then president who does not like to lose.
This week, Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo, leader of the defunct PRD and on behalf of the National Civic Front, called for taking over Congress and preventing Claudia Sheinbaum from taking office, if the judicial reform is approved.
The call for such a blunder is irresponsible. It would add to those failed “takeovers” of Congresses, which seek to defy the law in order to win, by force, what was not achieved at the polls.
The judicial reform is risky and populist. It conveniently appeals to the people to decide who will be the best judge, when in reality it is taking advantage of the electoral majority of the ruling party to put unconditional allies of Morena in key positions in the judiciary. However, if it is approved in Congress, it will be law, voted by a legislative majority that, even without overrepresentation, was elected by a wide margin by the citizens. And that is what is called having legitimacy.
Many of us may not like what is decided there, but trying to combat anti-democracy with violence would deepen Mexico’s democratic hole.
We are faced with the inevitable scenario of having a State Party back, voted for by the majority at the polls. Once again the Philanthropic Ogre that gives away money and tramples on minorities. Although Ricardo Monreal swears that they will not be a new PRI; they already are.
But the option of taking to the streets to prevent the inauguration of a legitimate President, blocking Congress and setting the country on fire is a waste of time, when what the opposition needs is to reorganize and begin, once again, the arduous path of building a new legitimacy, which dilutes the authoritarian edges of the new government and intelligently resolves urgent problems such as insecurity or health, which the 4T sees very well, but which in truth are a citizen calamity.
But everything must be done through institutional channels. With intelligence. With the evidence of reason in hand. Calling for the adoption of forceful measures or going to the guerrilla are unviable solutions, if we still have the hope that Mexicans are capable of resolving our differences through public debate.