(Mexico City) The Mexican Senate is due to examine on Tuesday the controversial reform of the judiciary wanted by outgoing President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, which has generated strong tensions with Washington, the country’s main trading partner, as well as daily demonstrations for several weeks.
The constitutional reform, which is entering the final phase of its legislative journey with the vote of the senators, aims to allow the election of judges – including those of the Supreme Court – and magistrates by a “popular vote”, a first on a global scale that is shaking the country and investors.
The Mexican president, who will be replaced by president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, from the same party, on 1er October, argues that Mexican justice is corrupt and only serves the economic interests of the elites, while more than 90% of crimes go unpunished in Mexico according to NGOs.
Last Wednesday, the bill was adopted by deputies of the ultra-majority coalition in power in a gymnasium, under basketball hoops, after the lower house was blocked by demonstrators.
All attention is now focused on the Senate, where the presidential party and its allies are one vote short of adopting the constitutional reform.
Opponents of the reform, mainly employees of the judicial administration and law students, believe that it will weaken the independence of judges and open the door to organized crime.
“The demolition of the judicial system is not the way forward,” Supreme Court President Norma Piña said in a video posted on social media Sunday.
Mr. Loper Obrador, who has often criticized the Supreme Court for holding back several of his reforms, said that Mr.me Piña was “within her rights” to oppose it, but warned against a possible attempt to block the reform, which would be a “flagrant violation” of the Constitution.
The bill also worries investors, according to experts, who point to the fall of the peso against the dollar, as well as the United States, which sees it as a “threat” to bilateral trade relations and a “risk” to Mexican democracy.