translated from Spanish: Bedolla calls for citizen participation to rebuild Michoacan

Morelia, Michoacan .- Governor-elect Alfredo Ramirez Bedolla said that the crisis of governance that Michoacan is going through is the result of the abandonment of the state government to various social sectors, so he announced that the next state administration will seek, as a priority, to implement mechanisms of citizen participation that contribute to the joint resolution of conflicts, they reported in a statement.
We will not be able to rebuild Michoacan if we do not reconcile the citizens with their government, he added, adding that it is imperative to establish a new relationship of collaboration between the citizens and the public authorities.
Alfredo Ramirez said that in municipalities violated by violence such as Aguililla, Apatzingan, and various indigenous communities, citizens have not only raised their voices to demand security, they have also organized to promote initiatives aimed at restoring peace in their localities.
We have to listen to the citizens, and support their initiatives, Ramirez Bedolla added; “If the public power does not accompany civil society in processes of pacification of territories and restoration of the social fabric, there is a risk that other factual groups will support them, and that in the end they will use the social base to protect their own interests, sometimes illicit ones,” he stressed.
The governor-elect pointed out that the reconciliation of Michoacan that he proposes implies that government and society can work in collaboration, because “without the participation of citizens we will not be able to restore governability in the state. You can’t govern with your back to the people.”

Original source in Spanish