With fences and songs, they push the candidacy of Adán Augusto López

The fences of #AdanVa

The promotion in the streets is intended to “gain advantage” in electoral preferences, it cannot be considered a violation of the electoral law due to the “legal loopholes” that the Mexican electoral system has, which is considered “prohibitionist” by specialists. .

Aldo Muñoz Armenta, professor at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) and political analyst, explains that when a prohibitionist model prevails in a country, parties and politicians find a way to gain electoral advantage without sanctions because they do not officially violate the law. .

“(The Adán Augusto thing) is a play on words to undoubtedly favor the Secretary of the Interior. The prohibitionist model that we have had since 2007 makes parties and candidates look for ways to overturn the law, which is terribly restrictive. It is not a criminal act, but it is an irregular act, a crime is not being committed, but this is the result of the prohibitionist model that we have”, he comments.

Adán Augusto López was the last profile to join the short list of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. While Claudia Sheinbaum and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard were mentioned as possible replacements for 2024 since June 2021, the Secretary of the Interior was “uncovered” in April of this year.

Initially, the licensed governor of Tabasco refused to express his interest in the presidential contest. “I don’t sweat other people’s fevers”, “by 2024 there is a long way to go”, were some of the answers given by the secretary when asked if he aspired to compete in 2024.

However, this Tuesday for what will be Morena’s second presidential candidacy.

“I understand that even the National Council of my party has approved in a statutory reform that the method of selecting candidates is a survey, if this is so, then we will participate,” he said prior to his dialogue with deputies from Michoacán.

But before he himself recognized his interest in participating in the presidential race, the country gradually flooded with billboards and fences with his name.

#WeAreAugusto, the promise of continuity

In Mexico City, Veracruz, Tabasco and Chiapas, tarpaulins and fences have been placed promoting the name and image of the Secretary of the Interior, without it being known who is responsible for financing it.

Gustavo López Montiel, professor and researcher at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Government of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, explains that this type of propaganda does threaten the fairness of an electoral contest.

“Since there are no pre-campaigns or campaigns, they are not acts that formally compromise the fairness of a process, although in reality they are,” he says.

Article 3 of the General Law of Electoral Institutions and Procedures (Legipe) states that they can be carried out “under any modality and at any time” outside the campaign stage. However, experts explain that because the pints do not include details such as the position to which one would aspire, they can be taken as personal promotion.

According to experts, although Adán Augusto López shares a last name with the President of the Republic, in addition to being from the same entity, the walls that have been painted are intended to link him as the “continuity” of President López’s project. workshop

“The name of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is a very blockbuster brand, he is the best valued politician in the entire country, and that has an effect on the intention to vote towards 2024. It is not a unique phenomenon in the world, in countries The most highly valued politicians are taken out into the streets to accompany the candidates by democratic organizations,” adds Muñoz Armenta, professor at the UAEM.

In surveys that measure electoral preferences towards 2024, such as one published in October by , the Secretary of the Interior is located well below the head of Government and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

To the question of who do you prefer to be Morena’s candidate for President of the Republic in the 2024 elections? Marcelo Ebrard and Claudia Sheinbaum each obtained 27% of the preferences. While the Secretary of the Interior and the coordinator of the Morena senators, Ricardo Monreal, are in a tie with 8% of the preferences, that is, with a disadvantage of 19 percentage points.

Adam, a false aspirant?

The experts consulted consider that although the candidacy of Adán Augusto López is being promoted, he will not be the candidate. Their role, they refer, is to prevent “the favorite” from receiving attacks, but also to avoid a technical tie between Claudia Sheinbaum and Marcelo Ebrard when they meet in a poll.

“His role is to temper and that the election between Marcelo Ebrard and Claudia Sheinbaum is not polarized, there is no risk of a technical tie in the poll. If Marcelo and Claudia were to draw, it would be a very serious problem for President López Obrador. A strategy that an expert in elections would recommend is to include a third party who divides the votes to your ‘second favorite’, which helps to avoid polarizing an election”, explains Aldo Muñoz Armenta.

For Gustavo López Montiel, the boost that the candidacy of Adán Augusto López is receiving responds to taking care of the candidacy of the “president’s favorite.”

“The strategy of positioning Adán Augusto is to draw attention to him and divert it from Claudia Sheinbaum, allowing him to grow without generating negatives. The negatives today are being generated by Adam Augusto”, he maintains.

While he is or is not a “false contender”, in the country the supporters of Adán Augusto López exploit his creativity to push his candidacy. In addition to those pints, the Tabasco has already composed a song that says in the lyrics: “Here he is, Adán va. Adán Augusto is here, with a fair heart and character. Here he is, Adán va. The flow, flow from Tabasco will be like soul and owner”.