MEXICO CITY -- Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Mexico鈥檚 capital Sunday in a show of support for President Manuel López Obrador, who before assuming the presidency had led some of the country鈥檚 biggest protests.

The 鈥減eople鈥檚 march鈥� marked four years in office for the leftist leader and was a response to a large opposition march two weeks ago to protest López Obrador鈥檚 proposal to reform the country鈥檚 electoral authority.

The president himself led Sunday鈥檚 march through central Mexico City, which was accompanied by mariachi music, singing and a festive atmosphere. Many participants had been bused in from provinces across Mexico in trips organized by the ruling Morena party, unions and social groups.

鈥淓ffective suffrage, effective democracy, and no to re-election,鈥� he said in a speech after the march in which he repeated his slogans of favouring the poor and fighting the oligarchy.

The opposition insisted that many participants were forced to join the march, but López Obrador said he had not put 鈥渁 penny鈥� of the federal budget into the march. Demonstrators questioned said they had come voluntarily.

But in many cases the transportation was provided by local governments or politicians who wanted to be well thought of inside the ruling party.

Gaby Contreras, a former Morena mayor, brought a group from Teoloyucan, north of the capital, and was the only one of her group authorized to speak. 鈥淲e are here to support the president.鈥�

Pedro Sánchez, a bricklayer who came with his wife from the Tehuantepec isthmus in southern Mexico, said his municipality organized everything. Hundreds of buses that had brought participants lined nearby streets.

鈥淚 come from Sonora by plane and I paid for my ticket,鈥� said lawyer and López Obrador supporter América Verdugo.

Nelly Muñoz, an administrator from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said 鈥渋t鈥檚 called 鈥榦rganization鈥� and and believe it or not, it鈥檚 what we鈥檝e been doing since 2006.鈥�

That date was a reference to the year López Obrador came within 0.56 per cent of the vote of winning the presidency and denounced his loss as fraudulent. Many supported him, launching a mass protest movement.

López Obrador was elected to the presidency 12 years later and his Morena party won four of six races for governor in last year鈥檚 midterm elections, giving the ruling party control of 22 of Mexico鈥檚 32 states, an important advantage heading into the 2024 presidential elections.

But the government has been criticized for its increased use of the military, laws whose constitutionality has been questioned in the courts, and its support for controversial mega-projects, Some people who support the president are now are his critics.

Clara Jusidman, founder of INCIDE Social, an NGO specialized in democracy, development and human rights, said that what is important isn鈥檛 the number of participants in the march, but 鈥渨hy they participated.鈥�

She said many Mexicans feel compelled to participate because they receive money transfers from the government, which is its main way of supporting those in need. Others want to be in the good graces of the party ahead of the 2024 local, state and presidential elections. The leading contenders to replace López Obrador as Morena鈥檚 presidential candidate in 2024 appeared in the march.

But there was no shortage of fans of Mexico鈥檚 president, who maintains a high approval rating.

Alberto Cervantes, who travelled from Los Angeles to join the march, had the president鈥檚 face and 鈥淎MLO 4T鈥� tattooed on his arm. AMLO is the popular acronym for López Obrador鈥檚 name, and 4T refers to the 鈥�4th Transformation,鈥� which López Obrador says he is carrying out in Mexico.

Lorena Vaca, who waved a flag of the LGBTQ2S+ community, said she came to ask for more attention for women and transgender people.

鈥淭here are things we don鈥檛 agree with... but that doesn鈥檛 mean we don鈥檛 support the Fourth Transformation process,鈥� said Aurora Pedroche, a member of a critical sector within Morena who questions the party鈥檚 leadership but supports the president.

Mexico鈥檚 opposition had called a massive march because they feared López Obrador planned to use his proposed reforms to compromise the electoral institute鈥檚 independence and make it more beholden to his party.

López Obrador repeatedly criticized the march and days later said he would call his own march.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 make a change overnight and Andrés Manuel is not infallible,鈥� Pedroche said. 鈥淏ut we have worked hard and what we don鈥檛 want is for this to be reversed.鈥�

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AP journalist Mark Stevenson contribution to this report.