Law would let San Luis R.C. mayors seek re-election
SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Son. — In what would be a departure from a nearly century old tradition, mayors here and in other Sonora cities could seek reelection beginning in 2018.
The Sonora congress has approved an electoral reform measure allowing mayors and state lawmakers to run for re-election, subject to the approval of a majority of city councils in the state that borders Yuma County.
A mayor finishing his or her first three-year term could seek two additional terms, for a total of nine years in office, while a state lawmaker could serve four consecutive three-year terms, under the proposal adopted April 27 by Sonora’s Chamber of Deputies.
The law will take effect in 2018 if at least 37 of the 72 city councils around Sonora ratify it. Also, the Sonora legislature must amend state electoral laws by no later than June to reflect the change. No timetable has been set for the required approvals of the measure.
A prohibition against reelection to office at any level of government is a legacy of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, a revolt sparked in part by discontent over the 31-year reign of dictator Porfirio Diaz.
Critics of the ban have argued that it gives elected officials no incentive to do their jobs, or that it doesn’t allow them enough time to fulfill their promises to voters. Then in 2014, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed an electoral reform law allowing lawmakers at the federal and state levels and mayors to seek re-election.
At the time, San Luis Rio Colorado Mayor Enrique Reina was a federal congressmen who voted for the reform, believing the ban on re-election prevented elected officials from finalizing initiatives and projects begun in their first terms.
“I see it as the right thing to do,” he said. “Costa Rica and Mexico (among all Latin American countries), they do not allow re-elec- tion, and the truth is I see it as a setback for public policy and follow-through on projects and programs that a city government has.”
At present, mayors and state lawmakers in Sonora cannot seek a second consecutive term once their three-year terms end.
The prohibition on reelection has “created for Mexico a lack of continuity of projects,” Reina added. “Many times there’s no continuity in plans and projects from one administration to the next, even when they’re from the same political party. This (reform) is about having enough time to be able to achieve goals.
“Mayoral terms in the United Sates are for four years, and we are seeing that on the American side that the mayors make their plans and have time to fulfill them. And that’s good.”
The reform law signed by Pena Nieto does not allow for re-elections of presidents or governors in Mexico, both of whom are limited to single six-year terms.
Reina, whose term ends when the new law would take effect, said he hasn’t thought about the possibility of seeking re-election.
“When you begin to think about what comes next, you automatically neglect what you are doing right now. I don’t want to get distracted; I want to concentrate on my responsibilities now as mayor.”