Politics: An obstinate AMLO misses the mark
Although President Andrés Manuel López Obrador continues to enjoy historically strong approval levels at around 50%, opinion polls show presidential support is waning. The president’s net approval has dropped 20 points since he took office in December 2018.
The massive March 8-9 protest actions marking International Women’s Day further eroded support for AMLO. His lack of sensitivity to the problem of violence against women, his insistence on seeing the hand of the conservative opposition behind the feminist protests, and his refusal to adopt specific measures have isolated the president from what is clearly at present the most dynamic social movement in the country.
The March 8 demonstration in Mexico City attracted upwards of 200,000 women, with protests staged in 60 other localities nationwide, and there is ample evidence that the March 9 stay-at-home protest was supported by millions throughout the country. Given the breadth of that support, AMLO’s decision to play down their importance does not bode well for the future of his project as the problem of violence against women and femicides is a galvanizing issue that has struck a chord in broad sectors of the population. It is clearly not going away.
AMLO’s approval ratings have been further eroded by doubts fueled by the way the administration is trying to implement its policies and social programs, and its approach to dealing with the new economic environment marked by the massive drop in world oil prices and the coronavirus emergency. If the current economic slowdown intensifies and begins to effect household finances or if growth in coronavirus cases exceeds the capacity of the health-care system, support for the president could further decline.
All this poses the question of whether a crisis of governance could be looming. The answer depends on how López Obrador handles the current political, economic, and health-care scenarios.
Now read on...
Register to sample a report