Photography/ EFE
A couple of weeks ago, the electoral process in Michoacán unfolded smoothly, calmly; but what appeared to be mere paperwork given the advantage of one of the candidates, became one of the most atypical and perhaps antagonistic elections of the last three decades.
The start of the campaigns for governor without two candidates – one of which was the pointer in the polls – plus the open pounding between contenders and government entities have made the current elections one of the most complex of recent years. We will have to wait if the broad advantage held in most polls by Morena’s candidate is maintained in the event of a favorable ruling from the Electoral Court.
Although the National Agreement for Democracy was signed on 23 March, with the intention of preventing both the President of the Republic and the governors from conducting activism on behalf of their candidates or against opponents, either directly or through the use of public resources, the incursion of executive, federal and state holders in favour of their parties and candidates has been extremely noticeable; open and direct verbal pounding has been the main weapon used to discredit opponents and the possibility is that some of these accusations may even end up in prosecutions.
Therefore, the atypical start of the party that leads most of the polls took place without its candidate for state government and only with its standard-bearers to federal meps, which is by the way, rather than contribute, will again depend on the drag of the presidential figure. Until now, there is full confidence that Raúl Morón will regain his candidacy to such an extent that he has not transcended any name from whom he could replace him.
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Meanwhile in Michoacán began the broadcast of the so-called “black propaganda”. The accusations against the team’s candidate by Michoacán, Carlos Herrera, and Silvano Aureoles, were handled by Gerardo Fernández Noroña, who did not hesitate to predict even that the current Michoacan governor “is going to end up in jail”.
Mornings under the magnifying glass
The determination of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judiciary of the Federation that neither the President, governors or officials of the states where elections were held on June 6th disseminate programs or actions of government – except those covered by the Constitution – will put in check media that unrestrictedly disseminate the “mañaneras” of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Surely the federal representative will continue to exercise his right to freedom of expression and his right of reply, as he himself has mentioned, with the perhaps calculated risk of being again singled out by the opposition to violations of electoral law. By the way, he would open a permanent front against the electoral management body to maintain his disqualification campaign.
Media bias.
Another peculiarity of the current electoral process is the open and regrettable bias of many media outlets that promote or disqualify candidates without any blush. The media has an ethical and legal obligation to maintain its impartiality and professionalism today more than ever and avoid falling into what the Argentine journalist Reynaldo Sietecase wrote in the book Journalism: Instructions for Use: It ceased to matter whether what is published is true. What matters is its effect. “At the time of post-truth, when it comes to information, many prefer to confirm their prejudices. It doesn’t matter if what they think has real livelihood or not. It doesn’t really matter what happened. It doesn’t matter if they lie to them a lot or a little bit.”
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