Mexico City.- By three votes in favor and two against, the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPJF) pardoned the Governor of Nuevo León, Samuel García, for appearing in a video in which he passes “the baton” of presidential candidate to Jorge Álvarez Máynez.
The Specialized Chamber had determined that the state leader did violate the impartiality, equity and neutrality of the contest by appearing and broadcasting said spot, so it gave notice to the local Congress to sanction it.
Álvarez Máynez was even fined 10,857 pesos, considering that he did receive an electoral benefit from said promotional campaign.
In that video, the Governor gave his partner a shirt and orange tennis shoes, stating that it was his turn to represent the party in the presidential race, after the Nuevo Leon native resigned from the candidacy.
“Compadre, we are going to show them that they messed with the wrong generation. We are more prepared than ever,” García concluded.
On Wednesday, magistrates Mónica Soto, Felipe Fuentes and Felipe de la Mata agreed that there had been no violation of the law, and therefore overturned the decision of their regional peers.
“The contested decision is revoked, (because) contrary to what was indicated by the Specialized Chamber, Samuel García’s participation in the video does not automatically imply a violation of the principles of neutrality, impartiality and equity in the contest, since for this to happen a contextual analysis of the publication must be carried out.
“The Court should have taken into account that the video was published during the pre-campaign stage, Jorge Álvarez Máynez was the sole candidate, while Samuel García resigned from the candidacy and the message was directed to militants and sympathizers of Movimiento Ciudadano, as can be seen continuously in the banner that appears in the video. García’s mere appearance did not violate (these) principles,” the Superior Court ruled by majority.
Judge Reyes Rodríguez, who ruled against revoking the order, considered that Article 134 is clear in that public servants cannot interfere in electoral matters, and that the advertisement had an electoral objective.
He said that just because the spot was directed at Movimiento Ciudadano activists does not mean that García should be exonerated, since his governor’s suit cannot be removed.
“Although he is not presenting himself as the head of the Executive Branch in Nuevo Leon, it is a well-known and public fact that he is. Therefore, he has the obligation not to create imbalances, says Article 134, in the competition between political parties, and this applies to the pre-campaign,” he insisted.
“I wonder if it is necessary to announce a change of baton, the appearance of a governor. It does imply a benefit in favor of Máynez and his party and that this benefit per se is classified as undue and then this appearance and public notoriety of the governor represent an undue advantage.”
Rodríguez warned that by appearing in an electoral video, he did incur in improper use of public resources.
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