Américo Villarreal, governor-elect of Tamaulipas and morena militant, caused a confrontation in the Senate on Wednesday between his party and the opposition forces’ benches, while the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF) is expected to determine whether or not to validate his victory in the June elections.
On Monday, Villarreal, who is also a licensed senator, announced his intention to return to his Senate seat. He argued that he did it to have jurisdiction and thus protect himself from a possible arrest warrant against him, derived from some “dirty game” allegedly promoted by the outgoing governor, Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca, of the PAN.
But since Wednesday morning, a document was released in which Villarreal asked to annul his request for reinstatement as a senator, something that the opposition considered invalid.
Que siempre Américo Villareal (@Dr_AVillarreal ) no regresa al Senado . pic.twitter.com/G9dFPemDnD
— Yared De La Rosa (@Yaris_202) September 28, 2022
During the Senate session, legislators from the PAN and the Plural Group pointed out that, since the upper house had already received his request to rejoin, he could not simply cancel it but, in any case, had to promote a new license.
The senators of Morena assured that this was not necessary, which opened a confrontation and a discussion of about two hours, in which the opposition accused a “messy” process and the Moreno bloc affirmed that the claims were only motivated by the desire to affect who legally won the government of Tamaulipas.
During the fight, the opposition even claimed that Villarreal put his eligibility as governor at risk.
After the exchanges of accusations, the discussion concluded when the president of the Board of Directors, Alejandro Armenta, reported that Villarreal finally sent a new license application to separate from his seat. This request was approved in a few minutes and by show of hands.
Villarreal, whose six-year term in Tamaulipas is scheduled to begin on October 1, hopes that today the TEPJF will ratify its victory.
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