Supreme Court shortens gubernatorial term

In 13 months, voters in Baja California will have to go to the polls to elect a new governor.

Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation voted unanimously to declare the so-called Bonilla Law as unconstitutional. The State Assembly passed the law after the election to extend the period of government from two to five years.

In the virtual session held by the country’s highest court on Monday, the magistrates described the measure as a major fraud against the Constitution.

“I acknowledge the unanimous decision of the SCJN in favor of declaring the so-called Bonilla Law in Baja California unconstitutional,” Lorenzo Córdova, president councilor of the National Electoral Institute wrote on Twitter. “This decision preserves democracy and the division of powers, and enforces the legal framework that gives certainty and legality to our electoral system.”

“Effective suffrage was put at risk with an extension of the post-election mandate,” added Córdova’s colleague Pamela San Martín.

On September, state lawmakers — including most of the then-ruling National Action Party (PAN) — approved the reform that was enacted a month later.

The measure was contested under the argument that the measure was approved after the elections.

Electoral reforms must be approved 90 days before the electoral process begins, according to state law.

“We appreciate the firmness with which democracy was defended, avoiding setting a dangerous precedent for Mexico. United we are stronger,” PAN’s state committee said.

With the Supreme Court decision Baja Californians must elect a new governor on June 6, 2021, when elections will also be held for local deputies, mayors and federal deputies.

The two-year gubernatorial term was approved in 2014 and enacted by former Gov. Francisco Vega.

According to pollsters, Demotecnia and Massive Caller, Baja Californians rejected the term’s decrease. Voters and the ruling party, Morena, justified the term’s extension to avoid additional expenditure of resources.

Prior to the vote, Baja California Secretary of Government Amador Rodríguez had expressed his confidence that magistrates would vote in favor of extending the term, but so far, Morena and the state government have failed to comment on the actual ruling.

“This is a rejection of authoritarianism and the worst practices of Mexican politics,” said the PAN’s national leader, Marko Cortés. “Today, fortunately, we are certain that the citizens of Baja California will have to elect their next governor next year, and of course, we will be ready … to recover Baja California.”

“Today it is shown that the division and balance of powers serves the country and the democracy of Mexico,” said the leftist Democratic Revolution Party National Committee. “This resolution sets a precedent so that no one can alter the periods of government.”

“The unanimous vote of the SCJN against the Bonilla Law defends the constitutional and democratic order of our country, asserting the will of citizens who chose a government for two years,” said the former national leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Claudia Ruiz Massieu.