President López Obrador on Friday expressed confidence that things will go “very well” in the 11 states to be led by new Morena party governors.
Candidates for Morena, which was founded by the president and swept to federal power in the 2018 elections, won June 6 governor races in Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nayarit, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tlaxcala and Zacatecas.
López Obrador met with the 11 governors-elect at the National Palace on Thursday.
“It was a very fraternal meeting of colleagues who have been fighting for a long time and who were elected democratically. They’re legal, legitimate governors-elect, women and men, and I felt very happy,” he told reporters on Friday morning.
The meeting, also attended by Finance Minister Arturo Herrera, lasted for five hours and included a meal featuring dishes from the president’s home state of Tabasco.
López Obrador said they discussed the problems faced by each of the 11 states, the actions the incoming governors will take to improve the lives of residents and plans for the federal and state governments to work together.
“… I was really very pleased to be with them,” said the president, who indicated that he also intends to meet with the candidates who won the other four gubernatorial elections on June 6.
“All of them are aware that forming a good government depends 99% on managing the public budget, which is the people’s money, with honesty. This is the main thing and a commitment that all of them have taken on,” López Obrador said.
He said that the incoming Morena governors also agreed with his political motto of “don’t lie, don’t steal and don’t betray” the people.
“That’s the code of ethics, that’s how it’s summarized. They agree with the plan so I’m very happy, calm and satisfied, and I believe that the states where these men and women with principles and convictions will govern will do very well,” López Obrador said.
Guerrero governor-elect Evelyn Salgado, who replaced her father on the Morena ticket after he was barred from running for failing to report his pre-campaign expenses, told reporters on Thursday that the president’s treatment of the incoming governor’s at yesterday’s meeting was “very cordial.”
“We’re going to continue meeting. This was the first one,” she said.
Zacatecas governor-elect David Monreal, brother of Morena Senate Leader Ricardo Monreal, took to Twitter to comment on the meeting.
“Today I met with President López Obrador. We agreed on the need to strengthen coordination in fundamental areas for Zacatecas: security, investment and development of highway infrastructure, among others. Once I’m sworn in, they will be my priority,” he wrote.
With reports from Milenio and El Universal
