Due to the high passenger demand and the need to increase the airport infrastructure in Mexico, and considering the lack of space for the expansion of the current Mexico City International Airport (AICM), the Mexican government was forced to search for viable sites for the construction of the NAIM, through the preparation of technical and feasibility studies, which pointed to the Federal Zone of Texcoco as the most admissible option.
Work on the new Texcoco airport began in 2014, which implied a large investment and the generation of employment opportunities. It is important to mention that this project is the most observed public works project in the country and the first to adopt the open data standard, i.e., the data and contracting documents are available to the general public.
According to Mexico’s president-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the project is excessively costly and has a high environmental impact, in addition to the fact that the project’s schedule indicates 2020 as the opening year, for which he proposed a citizen consultation to define the future of the NAIM.
This consultation took place last October and the winning option was to build two runways in Santa Lucia (where a military base is currently located) and to rehabilitate the AICM and the Toluca International Airport, resulting in the cancellation of the NAIM project in Texcoco.
This will generate, in addition to controversy and political confrontations, considerable repercussions on the country’s economy and international relations, so we must ask ourselves: what are the legal implications of this result?
In the first instance, the citizen consultation is in violation of Article 35 of the Constitution, since it was not called by the Congress of the Union, it deals with income and expenses of the State and was not carried out on the same day of the federal election day, in addition to the fact that there is a Federal Law of Popular Consultation that regulates the procedure, which was not taken into account.
In addition to the above, the consultation was not reliable because, among other issues: (i) there was no interference by the National Electoral Institute (INE); (ii) ballots without folio or security elements were used; and (iii) the count was carried out by private individuals.
On the other hand, according to the federal government’s open data portal, the NAIM has entered into 461 contracts with, among others, state-owned companies, the private sector, institutions such as the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA) and universities, whose contract value exceeds one billion pesos, and therefore, with the cancellation of the NAIM, there is uncertainty regarding compliance with such contracts.
Therefore, regardless of personal preferences or opinions on the most favorable site for the construction of the NAIM, it is essential to take into consideration its legal implications.
