Mexico City, Mexico — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that his legal council has delivered the request for a popular consultation on whether or not former presidents of the country should be prosecuted for the alleged commission of crimes during their presidency.
The request was delivered to the Senate by Legal Counsel of the Presidency, Julio Scherer Ibarra, in accordance with due process of the former presidents who ruled Mexico from 1988 to 2018.
During his conference, López Obrador read part of the letter of request to the Senate. “Do you agree or disagree with the competent authorities, in accordance with the applicable laws and procedures, investigate, and where appropriate sanction, the alleged commission of crimes by former presidents Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, Vicente Fox Quesada, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa and Enrique Peña Nieto before, during and after their respective administrations?”
He suggested that the consultation be carried out on election day to be held on Sunday, June 6, 2021 or on the date established by the recently amended Article 35 of the Constitution.
The request was submitted after citizens organized to collect the signatures required to request the consultation. Groups around the country participated in the collection of nearly 2 million signatures.
Scherer Ibarra delivered the document, signed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to request a popular consultation on a trial of the last five former presidents of Mexico, which would take place according to the petition, “on the election day of Sunday, June 6, 2021 or on the date established in the recently amended article 35 of the Constitution.”
Senator Ricardo Monreal, Morena coordinator in the Upper House, was in charge of receiving the request and forwarding it to the president of the Board of Directors, Eduardo Ramírez, who must send it to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) to resolve its constitutionality, according to the Federal Law of Popular Consultation.
Ricardo Monreal said the document will be sent to the SCJN, who will have 20 calendar days to issue a resolution on “the constitutionality or not on the consultation and on the question.”
