Mexicans protest controversial electoral reform
Tens of thousands of Mexicans protested against an electoral reform approved by the ruling party-controlled Congress that is widely perceived as an attack on democracy ahead of 2024 presidential polls.
Political and civic organisations joined forces for the show of discontent, gathering on Mexico City's main square, Zocalo, and in other cities under the slogan #MiVotoNoSeToca (Hands Off My Vote).
Dressed in white and pink, the colours of the National Electoral Institute (INE) they say is under threat, protesters denounced the majority move by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's backers to reduce the independent body's size and budget.
A bill the INE says will tarnish the credibility of elections was approved in the Senate by 72 votes in favour to 50 against.
The legislation must now be enacted by the leftist president, who championed the change.
Former Supreme Court justice Juan Ramon Cossio, in an address to protesters, accused Lopez Obrador of seeking to "appropriate the electoral system."
The bill is a watered-down version of more radical reforms he originally sought that sparked mass street protests against a perceived attack on the INE, designed to safeguard elections from political tampering.
It claims the changes would eliminate 85 percent of its career staff, and scrap 300 district boards crucial to organising elections for the country's 93 million voters.
