Speaking at his daily press conference on Sunday, Mexico City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador called on his supporters to rally in the capital's Zocalo, or main square, on Thursday morning, where he will speak to outline a strategy of civil resistance to the ongoing legal case against him. On Saturday, congressional leaders announced that a vote on whether to strip López Obrador of his political immunity from prosecution, a process known as the desafuero, will be carried out on Thursday, at 10 a.m. The mayor will be called to the Chamber of Deputies, Mexico's lower house of Congress, to argue his defense prior to the vote.
The left-leaning López Obrador and his supporters have maintained that the desafuero, which stems from a seemingly minor land dispute over the construction of a hospital access road, is merely a political effort to derail his political popularity. Though he has yet to declare his candidacy, opinion polls show the mayor to be the front-runner in next year's presidential elections.
"Those who speak hypocritically of rule of law easily forget how white-collar criminals are protected thanks to their ties with those in power," said López Obrador on Sunday. "And they forget how agreements and negotiations are carried out to guarantee the impunity of people who commit real crimes."
He said that the proceedings against him have been plagued by irregularities, and he repeated a phrase that he has used in recent days: "We must fight for a new legality, for a new economy, for a new political climate, and for a new social contract."
López Obrador said that Thursday's gathering in the Zocalo, scheduled for 9:30 a.m., would not be a march, but rather an opportunity for him to speak with the people and explain the defense he would present before Congress. And he assured that the event would be held in a "totally peaceful manner."
