Mexico Weekly / April 14, 2011
Ruling party members in the State of Mexico say Alejandro Encinas does not fulfill residency requirements to become a gubernatorial candidate for the upcoming July state election.
Amado Acosta García, the PRI mayor of the municipality of Texcoco, says Encinas, who plans to run for governor as a leftist coalition candidate, submitted an application for proof of residency in the state, El Universal reported Thursday.
However, municipal authorities have not answered Encinas’ request, citing doubts that he is really a resident of Texcoco. Local officials insist it should be state electoral officials, not municipal authorities, who determine Encinas’eligibility, El Universal reported.
Acosta says that along with Encinas’ application for proof of residency, the former Mexico City mayor also submitted a recently issued IFE electoral ID that includes an address in a small town near Texcoco.
According to the state Constitution, candidates must be residents of the State of Mexico for at least five years before Election Day.
Encinas was born in Mexico City in 1954 and studied economics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Currently on a leave of absence as a federal deputy and the PRD Chamber of Deputies bloc leader, Encinas previously served two terms as deputy (1985-88 and 1991-94). He was also interim Mexico City mayor from August 2005 to December 2006, after Andrés Manuel López Obrador took a leave of absence to run for president.
Reforma reported Thursday that Encinas changed his place of residency to the State of Mexico on Dec. 4, 2006, but the elections are to take place on July 3, five months shy of the five-year requirement.
However, the law itself appears to be unclear. Article 68 of the State of Mexico constitution establishes that for a State of Mexico resident (born there or elsewhere) to be eligible for the office of governor, he or she must have lived in the state for at least three years and should have had a permanent address in the state for at least five years.
Encinas defends his eligibility, saying he meets the three-year provision since he has resided in Texcoco since 1979, Reforma reported Thursday.
When asked to show his electoral ID with the Texcoco address, Encinas said he did not have it with him at the time.
“I don’t carry it with me, [because] if I lose it, imagine what would happen!” he said, according to Reforma.
— By Bronson Pettitt
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