UNDER RESERVE: Anti-corruption system raises suspicions

Anti-corruption system suspicions

What a firecracker is the one in the hands of Jacqueline Peschard, president of the Citizen Participation Committee of the National Anti-Corruption System (SNA), who on Tuesday will have to appoint the Technical Secretary of the SNA Executive Secretariat out of a group composed of Max Kaiser Aranda, Alejandra Rascón Rodríguez and Ricardo Salgado Perrilliat. The issue, we are told, is that this decision menaces the credibility of the country's emerging anti-corruption body, since the designation of the three candidates is given without the publication of their evaluations, in the midst of indications by experts of the lack of transparency in the process and suspicions of the existence of conflict of interests among members of the Selection Commission, some of the citizen commissioners that make up the Citizen Participation Committee and the candidates for the position of Technical Secretary. Experts on the subject assure that the clarity in the designation of the Technical Secretary is of such importance for the legitimacy of the SNA that it would even be better to restart the process than appointing a questioned official.

MC says no to López Obrador

And the answer was no. Yesterday we commented in this space that the leadership of far-left National Regeneration Party (MORENA) was waiting for a call in which their counterparts from Citizen Movement (MC) would inform them if they had finally decided to join the candidacy of teacher Delfina Gómez, aspirant of MORENA to the government of the State of Mexico. In MC, we are told, they decided to only wish good luck to Mrs. Delfina but not to march with her. They assure that, together with Labour Party (PT), who indeed decided to endorse the candidate of MORENA, MC was part of the formation of a fourth block for the election of 2018 in which they would go along with left Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) and Miguel Angel Mancera for the presidency of the Republic. Today, they say, it still holds the idea of accompanying PRD and Mr. Miguel next year, instead of going with MORENA and Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Fake survey

Chaos was what the diffusion of a poll provoked yesterday in which Delfina Gómez was favorite to win the government in the next elections of the State of Mexico with 25.7% of the vote intention, while the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate, Alfredo del Mazo, had 22.2% of the preferences. The dissemination of "The Great Electoral Survey", as it was titled in the messages, was attributed to Consulta Mitofsky, of pollster Roy Campos. PRI says it was made up by people of far-left National Regeneration Party (MORENA), and point to John Ackerman as one of the minds behind the fake poll. After the alleged poll ran as a train without brakes, Roy Campos himself had to come out and say it was fake. Once PRI's shock passed, we are told, came the calm and analysis. The people of PRI concluded that this was an expected maneuver that reflects some nervousness of their adversaries. The real fact is that the process of the State of Mexico is closing strongly in several fronts.

Deputy's priorities

While the cases of murdered journalists increase and their homicides remain unpunished, the president of the Special Commission for the Follow-up of Aggressions to Journalists and Media Agencies, Brenda Velázquez, devotes time to more trivial matters such as betting on the Mexican football final, between Tigres and Chivas, which was played last night. The legislator, who is not keen on giving interviews to talk about her responsibility, bet the donation of 20 footballs with her conservative National Action Party's (PAN) benchmate Federico Döring. Mrs. Brenda supports Tigres and lost the bet; she also made it clear that for her, football is more important than taking action on this sensitive matter.

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