The Specialized District Attorney Office for Electoral Crimes (FEPADE in Spanish) requested a federal judge to subpoena the sub-secretary of Prevention and Citizen Participation of the Mayor’s Office (SEGOB), Arturo Escobar y Vega, for having committed electoral crimes while working as spokesperson and secretary of electoral processes of the Mexican Ecologist Green Party (PVEM).
The Mexican authorities have opened an investigation against Escobar, who stands accused of incurring in electoral crime by hiring a company that delivered discount cards to voters, during the past electoral process in July.
When the accusation was known, Escobar rejected all allegations put forward against him through his Twitter account; he announced however, that he resigned his position in order to expedite the investigations of his case.
The lawsuit indicates that Escobar allegedly purchased 10.000 cards to be sent by the Green Party to several households as a reward for the voters’ fidelity. However, the discount cards seen in over 8.000 businesses, also reached people who were not advocates of this party, which caused the National Action Party (PAN) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) to accuse the official Escobar to the electoral authorities.
The chairman of FEPADE, Santiago Nieto, declared to a news chain that he handed the District Attorney of Federal Criminal Proceedings the investigation around the denominated “Premia Platino” discount cards handed to the voters in the Mexican capital.
In his press statement he said: “I received the instruction from the Attorney General to act with absolute impartiality, my actions are not against the political party but rather against the physical people who have incurred in criminal behavior; we seek to send a message, regardless of who the person is”.
In light of these events, the General District Attorney Office (PGR) proceeded against one of the main leaders of the Green Party, Escobar y Vega, who was acting as the legal representative of the PVEM (Green Party) and signed, around that time, contracts that would incur in violations of the electoral law.
In the last elections, the Green Party made a strategic alliance with the leader of the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) to expand the seats in Congress. In the ballots, Escobar was appointed in September as Sub-secretary of Prevention and Citizen Participation of Mayor’s Office, an appointment which set off harsh criticism due to his lack of experience in the area.
The investigations on the electoral irregularities are under way, in look of evidence that either confirms or denies the facts. If Escobar is found guilty for the crimes he is accused of, he could face economic sanctions or incarceration for a time to be determined by the pertinent Mexican authorities.
ALFA