Mexico’s president on Monday excoriated opposition lawmakers for voting down a major electricity reform, though business groups were cheered by Sunday’s vote, which lifted some of the investor uncertainty clouding the country’s energy market.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador decried the defeat of his bid to change the constitution to tighten state control of the power market as “treason,” though it could lower the risk of Mexico becoming embroiled in costly trade disputes.
Although the law’s defeat offered a measure of relief to investors, considerable uncertainty remains for businesses that have been unsettled by a raft of efforts by Lopez Obrador to reinforce state domination of the industry.
The leftist leader known in his country as AMLO, had spent months championing the bill he said would protect consumers and make Mexico more self-sufficient. Opponents argued it would raise electricity costs and undermine the country’s clean energy commitments.
The opposition united to reject the bill, and Lopez Obrador’s National Regeneration Movement and its allies in the lower house of Congress fell well short of the two-thirds majority needed for constitutional amendments.
“I believe that yesterday was an act of treason against Mexico committed by a group of legislators who, instead of defending the interests of the people … became outright defenders of foreign companies,” Lopez Obrador said, speaking on national TV at one of his regular news conferences.
Source: El Universal
