Mexico’s National Electoral Institute. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

Mexico’s autonomous election organization the National Electoral Institute (INE) was dealt yet another blow against its quest toward electoral transparency by the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who proposed by majority rule in the Chamber of Deputies to remove 5 billion pesos worth of funding from the INE in its Expenditure Budget of the Federation 2022.

The Chamber of Deputies will take these 5 billion pesos, alongside 3.38 billion pesos from the Judiciary, to pump 8.38 billion pesos into social programs of AMLO’s preference.

Controversially, the major budget cut amounts to the same figure the INE will need to properly run public elections in 2022.

Now, the INE goes from 24.65 billion pesos to 19.73 million in the budget for 2022, without beginning to touch the finances of political parties.

The INE and AMLO have been feuding for some time now, with the electoral institute having put sanctions against the executive’s speech ahead of this past June’s elections, while López Obrador has regularly and publicly floated the idea of absorbing the INE and other autonomous organizations into the government.