It is time for the government of President López Obrador to start giving results because he has two years and five months left to finish his government.
One of the important variables to measure the progress or regression of the country is the GDP per inhabitant. Everything indicates that at the end of his government it will be less than in 2018. It is true, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on all countries, however, we must not forget that for a whole year before the pandemic Mexico’s economy already showed signs of zero growth, uncertainty to invest, the lack of a rule of law and the increase in insecurity, among others.
The mismanagement of the pandemic by not applying a countercyclical fiscal policy has resulted in the disappearance of SMEs and more poverty. President López Obrador went so far as to affirm that governing does not have much science, but the results in terms of poverty do not favor him. Coneval has reported that the population with incomes below the cost of the basic basket (working poverty) at the end of 2021 is 40.3%.
It is true that many people have recovered their jobs after the lockdown, but they have done so earning less and with a considerable increase in the prices of the basic food basket.
A very negative aspect of the current AMLO administration has been the issue of health, INSABI has not been able to give the expected results when Seguro Popular disappeared because during the pandemic millions of people were left without health services. In addition, the current government has destroyed the medicine procurement system for public institutions, leaving the poorest who cannot access these medicines without medicine.
An issue forgotten by the current administration is education, there is no better way for the poor to stop being poor than to have access to a quality education, but corrupt union leaders continue to control public education under AMLO.
We still do not have a rule of law, the president spends his time demonizing companies. It is true, that companies have to respect the Law and bad behavior cannot be generalized from one to all. Precisely for this reason, efficient regulation is necessary but without overregulation. In addition, for that, there are autonomous bodies that the current government wants to disappear.
Without a doubt, Mexico still has a long way to go to have a rule of law and, above all, to be a country where the Law is applied.
While poverty has been on the rise since López Obrador became president, social polarization has increased. How does this government plan to attract more investment if there is uncertainty and a lack of a rule of law?
I get the impression that the government of President López Obrador lives in an eternal electoral campaign and does not realize that it has to govern and deliver results for all Mexicans. It is not an excuse that we have a pandemic for not giving better results.
The government of President López Obrador (amlo) won the elections promising a real change to millions of Mexicans, and what we have today is a Mexico with poorer people, more insecurity, more uncertainty, and above all, there are no expectations that we can improve as a country in the coming years.
What’s Next? Will there be disenchantment? Citizens must be demanding with the results that any government must give, not just speeches.
Editor’s note: Jorge Sánchez Tello is Director of the Applied Research Program of the Foundation for Financial Studies – FUNDEF AC Independent Research Center based at ITAM on the Financial System. Follow him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.
Source: politica.expansion.mx
