Mexico's Monreal asks party for easier re-election path for lawmakers

Ricardo Monreal, the coordinator for the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) in the Chamber of Deputies, has urged the party's national leadership to implement differentiated rules for legislators seeking re-election. Monreal proposed that these lawmakers not be compelled to take a leave of absence from their posts.

In a video shared on social media, Monreal explained that requiring legislators to step down would impede legislative work. He highlighted potential difficulties in incorporating substitutes, particularly in cases where no substitutes are available, leaving current officeholders to fill those roles.

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My respectful proposal to Morena is that the same rules not be applied, meaning legislators should not separate from their positions, because we would have difficulties incorporating substitutes, given that in some cases there are no substitutes and they are the ones now serving as owners.

"My respectful proposal to Morena is that the same rules not be applied, meaning legislators should not separate from their positions, because we would have difficulties incorporating substitutes, given that in some cases there are no substitutes and they are the ones now serving as owners," Monreal stated.

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So we do not want legislative work to be interrupted, nor do we want obstacles to the approval of this substantial legislative agenda.

He further noted that 41 out of Morena's 253 federal congress members have taken leaves of absence at various times. Monreal anticipates this number will increase as more legislators pursue re-election. "So we do not want legislative work to be interrupted, nor do we want obstacles to the approval of this substantial legislative agenda," he added.

Monreal, who also chairs the Political Coordination Board (Jucopo), mentioned that starting September 1, the beginning of the third ordinary session period, the chamber will prioritize an agenda with 20 initiatives. "This is a substantial, very ambitious, and very important legislative agenda for the country's life: updating the Mexican normative system and also providing responses to many new concerns, demands, and requirements. We have at least twenty urgent topics to deliberate and, if applicable, approve," he explained. He reminded that the upcoming re-election opportunity for legislators and municipal presidents will be the last, as constitutional provisions will prohibit it in 2030.

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This is a substantial, very ambitious, and very important legislative agenda for the country's life: updating the Mexican normative system and also providing responses to many new concerns, demands, and requirements. We have at least twenty urgent topics to deliberate and, if applicable, approve.