[41] During the LX Legislature, the left-wing parties formed the legislative bloc Broad Progressive Front to promote López Obrador's political platform.

[43] In 2008, López Obrador transformed his "legitimate presidency" into the "National Movement in Defense of Oil, Heritage, and the Popular Economy" in response to a proposed energy reform.

[44] By the 2009 legislative election, numerous López Obrador allies were sidelined by party leadership, which removed them from candidacies and diminished their influence in the LXI Legislature.

[45][46] Drawing from his successful mobilization of activists during the "National Movement in Defense of Oil, Heritage, and the Popular Economy," López Obrador believed it was feasible to establish a citizen network operating without party affiliations, motivated solely by support for his candidacy.

[56] While some PRD politicians, such as Ricardo Monreal, supported López Obrador's decision, describing it as a "divorce of convenience" to avoid further polarization in the country,[57] others, like Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, criticized him for forming a new political party, claiming it further splintered the Mexican left.

[62] By late November 2017, discussions began with the right-wing Christian-conservative Social Encounter Party (PES), whose president, Hugo Eric Flores Cervantes, stated: "We don't negotiate with the PRI; we have two options: to go alone or with Morena.

[66] Before and after the 2018 election, many PRD politicians, including incumbent mayors and legislators, left the party to join Morena, asserting that it represented a true leftist movement.

[71] MORENA describes itself as a democratic left-wing party that supports ethnic, religious, cultural, and sexual diversity, respect for human rights, and environmental care.

[citation needed] On social issues, the party's platform embraces a progressive agenda in favor of women's rights[75] and the LGBT community in Mexico,[76] supporting causes such as same-sex marriage and the decriminalization of abortion at the national level.

Among other things, they advocate the legalization of drugs, such as marijuana, considering that such a proposal would make it possible to find "mechanisms for peace and the reconstruction of the social fabric".

[80] MORENA also declares itself in favor of improving conditions for the Indigenous peoples of Mexico and implementing the 1996 San Andrés Accords, which were signed by the EZLN and representatives of the government but remained unenforced by President Ernesto Zedillo.

Instead, the party has focused on reducing the pay gap between lower-level employees and high-level government workers salaries, such as politicians and judges, through austerity measures.

The party announced support for a plan by López Obrador to cut salaries of higher-ranking public officials (including the president), lay off up to 70 percent of non-unionized federal workers, and reduce spending by cracking down on corruption and tax fraud.