Mexico Congress backs constitutional change to allow presidential recall vote

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador shows a map of the area where members of a Mormon family were killed by unknown assailants near the U.S. border, at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico November 5, 2019. Press Office of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador/Handout via REUTERS

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Congress approved a raft of constitutional changes on Tuesday that include permitting the right to a recall vote on the president, overriding opposition concerns it may open the door to allowing re-election of the country's leader.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pressed for the recall provision, arguing it should serve as a democratic check on his record. The president's term is limited to six years and he has said several times he will not seek to change that.The opposition argued he wanted a recall vote to put himself onto an electoral ticket again midway through his term. To avoid that, the Senate agreed last month that any recall vote must be held after the legislative elections in 2021.