First-Ever Citizens' Initiative to Curb Corruption Gains Steam Across Mexico Juan Montes - WSJ.com
go to original March 14, 2016

Iniciativa ciudadana Ley 3de3 (Ley 3de3)

Mario Escobar, a 20-year-old student at Mexico’s prestigious Tecnológico de Monterrey university, is known around campus for helping to organize big parties and videogame tournaments.

Now he is using his time and influence to promote a different cause: collecting signatures to support a corruption-fighting bill that would be the country’s first legal initiative proposed directly by the people.

The initiative, popularly known here as Ley 3de3 (the 3-out-of-3 bill), seeks to force all public servants to make three documents public: a detailed description of their assets and net worth, a list of their private interests and their tax returns. The bill also contains other measures to improve accountability in government.

“These simple sheets are a big hope for Mexico,” said Mr. Escobar on a recent sunny day on campus, pointing to a pile of signature sheets.

The proposed citizens’ bill would be the first since a 2014 law allowed citizens to introduce a bill to congress directly once they gather 120,000 signatures in support of it. Organizers have already collected more than 110,000 signatures and hope to have the rest by the end of the month.

The initiative underscores both the growing power of civil society in Mexico and widespread disillusion with the country’s politicians following a string of corruption scandals.

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