The Congress of Sinaloa, in the northwest of Mexico, has approved this Sunday the new request of Governor Rubén Rocha Moya to temporarily and indefinitely separate from his position, amid the controversy generated by his reintegration to the post last Friday, after having been away from his duties for more than 100 days while being the subject of an investigation for alleged crimes linked to drug trafficking.
"Unanimously, the license is approved under the terms requested by Doctor Rubén Rocha," noted the president of the Permanent Deputation of the Congress of Sinaloa, Manuel de Jesús Guerrero, during an extraordinary public session.
The resolution of the Sinaloan legislature comes a day after Rocha Moya formally registered his request for a temporary license "with indefinite character" and "for more than 30 days" to leave the position of governor, a procedure he made public by disseminating his document through social media.
When asked by journalists about this decision, the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, assessed that it is "the best for Sinaloa" and insisted that Rocha's request is due to a "personal decision."
"Just as he made the personal decision to return, it was also a personal decision to withdraw," emphasized the president, adding that she has not spoken with him "since the first time he requested (the) license." Both are part of the leftist party Morena (National Regeneration Movement), created by former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador during his campaign for the Presidency in the 2012 elections.
This same Friday, Rocha had unexpectedly announced his return to the position, claiming to be "back" and that he was resuming "the responsibility of governing and working for Sinaloa and its people," after months apart, at his own request, to present himself before the Prosecutor's Office in the context of the investigation opened for his alleged ties to drug trafficking.
His return triggered an intense internal political debate, with notable criticisms such as that of Sheinbaum herself, who stated that "no personal interest can ever be above the interests of the people and the Nation" and warned that "power without principles becomes arrogance."
It is worth remembering that last May the governor had already requested a temporary license from the Congress of Sinaloa to leave the position and be able to face the drug trafficking accusations made by the United States against him and nine other officials of the state government.