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A blow against transparency

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Francisco Javier Acuña, the head of the INAI - Photo: Alejandra Leyva/EL UNIVERSAL
07/08/2019 |09:31
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A blow against transparency

Today, the fight for transparency and against conflicts of interest will lose a key battle. We've been told that today, the National Anti-corruption System will approve an unsubstantial asset declaration format and won't approve the demand made by the INAI to make the names of those close to officials public, including siblings, spouses, cousins, and business partners. Although officials will have to include this information in their declarations, the information won't be public . Also, other details such as account balances won't be public. We've been told that nothing can be done to change this because there is a consensus and the INAI , led by Francisco Javier Acuña , can't do anything about it.

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Austerity doesn't apply to parties?

Yesterday, the INE counselors approved an MXN $5,000 million budget for political parties in 2020. Those who promised to cut their budget during the electoral campaign are now silent. Nevertheless, this is not surprising since a Morena leader said that “austerity doesn't apply to parties.” Of course, you'd have to be quite republican or Franciscan to say no to over MXN $1,600 million. So while the government talks about austerity , the ruling party prefers not to join the initiative.

Gabriel García is key in Morena

We've been told that the coordinator of the federal delegates, Gabriel García , has become a key actor in the race to lead Morena . García has recently criticized the current party leader, Yeidckol Polevnsky, which is important since he is close to President López Obrador and has control over the federal superdelegates . We've been told that Morena leaders think he could be key during the internal process .

The opposition visits the President's office

There was an unusual visit to the President's office yesterday. The parliamentary leaders René Juárez (PRI), Juan Carlos Romero Hicks (PAN), and Verónica Juárez Piña (PRD) . We've been told that the lawmakers met with the President's cabinet but it is unknown if they met with the President. People are also wondering if they discussed the change of leader in the lower chamber , an incendiary topic among the opposition and Morena members.

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