09/08/10 – On September 1st, the deputation of the local Congress of Veracruz presented an initiative proposed by Governor Fidel Herrera Beltrán, which would extend the mayoral term to four years rather then the current three year term limit. The initiative proposes reforms to the first paragraph of article 70 of the Local Political Constitution (artículo 70 de la Constitución política local) as well as the first paragraph of precept 22 of the Constitutional Law of the Free Municipality (precepto 22 de la Ley Orgánica del Municipio Libre). If it were to pass it would take effect the first day of the mayoral election process on January 1, 2014.
In the proposal Herrera Beltrán argues that the extension of mayoral term limits “has always” been demanded by citizens, scholars in the field, and the municipal authorities themselves. He also argued that it has been a demand of diverse organizations such as the National Federation of Mexican Municipalities (Federación Nacional de Municipios de México – FENAM), the Association of local Mexican authorities (Asociación de Autoridades Locales de México – AALMAC), and the Association of Mexican Municipalities (Asociación de municipios de México – AMMAC).
Beltrán noted that the initiative “forms part of the current debate of the reform of the State, as far as the need to improve the organization and functioning of the [municipal councils (city councils)] so that their planes, programs, and government actions are to the benefit of the population, avoiding that they be truncated or interrupted every three years.” He also mentioned that of the three tiers of government the authority citizens first come in contact with as the nearest line of approach regarding social needs, are those at the municipal level, stating that the implementation of public services constitutionally assigned to municipal authorities through the development of projects and programs goes far beyond the period for which those authorities were elected.
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