Tens of thousands of demonstrators cloaked in pink marched through cities in Mexico and abroad on Sunday in what they called a “march for democracy” targeting the country’s governing party ahead of the June 2 general elections.
The demonstrations called by Mexico’s opposition parties advocated for free and fair elections in the Latin American nation and railed against corruption the same day presidential frontrunner Claudia Sheinbaum registered as a candidate for the governing party Morena.
Approximately 90,000 people turned out to rail against the leader, according to government figures. However, organisers said 700,000 people turned out in Mexico City. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the size of the protests.
Sheinbaum is largely seen as a continuation candidate of Mexico’s populist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He is adored by many voters, who say he bucked the country’s elite parties from power in 2018 and represents the working class.
But the 70-year-old president has also been accused of making moves that endanger the country’s democracy. Last year, he slashed funding for the country’s electoral agency, the National Electoral Institute (INE), and weakened oversight of campaign spending, something INE’s head said could “wind up poisoning democracy itself”. The agency’s colour, pink, has been used as a symbol by demonstrators.
Lopez Obrador has also attacked journalists in hours-long press briefings, has frequently attacked Mexico’s judiciary and claimed judges are part of a conservative conspiracy against his administration.
In Mexico City on Sunday, thousands of people dressed in pink flocked to the city’s main plaza roaring – “Get Lopez out.” Others carried signs reading “The power of the people is greater than the people in power.”
Still, the president remains highly popular and opinion polls indicate his ally Sheinbaum appears set to coast easily into the presidency.
Lopez Obrador repeatedly dismissed the protests, telling reporters on Friday that his critics do not care about democracy and are organising the march to return the corrupt to power.
Following the massive demonstration, the leader continued to rail against critics and said there would be no electoral fraud in the election and that he had not intervened in democratic processes.
“It’s their democracy … the democracy of the corrupt. What we want is there to be democracy of the people. We don’t want power without the people. They’re the ones that establish an anti-democracy with electoral fraud,” said Lopez Obrador.