López Obrador gets the support of the Mexican people, although participation is not enough

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has won popular support this Sunday in talks over the withdrawal of his mandate. A large part of the electorate has shown confidence in him, although the number of participants was not enough to make the referendum binding.

more than 90% of voters voted in favor that the president will continue his term in office until 2024, according to an initial count by the National Electoral Institute. Instead, about 7% of voters chose to withdraw it due to loss of confidence.

Support data fades when looking at search sharing: less than 20% of Mexicans have cast their vote. The percentage is far from the minimum required for the consultation to be binding: 40%. About 92.8 million Mexicans have been called to the polls. Of the 37 million votes needed, the consultation did not exceed 16 million. López Obrador will therefore remain in office until the end of his six-year term, since the referendum has no validity

Sunday’s great abstention did not surprise anyone. INE advisers believe the low turnout was not as limited as expected, as it marks the first time a referendum has been held on a president’s confidence in Mexico. In addition, the opposition parties called for abstention.

Although the consultation could have ended his presidency, it was promoted by the president himself. In March 2019, he signed a letter addressed to the Mexican people announcing that he would ask the citizens whether or not to continue his mandate: “The people have the right to change the form of their government at any time; which means, The village puts and the village takes awayThe vote was scheduled for the end of 2021, although the INE had to postpone it until this Sunday due to lack of budget.