The Chamber of Deputies was blocked this Tuesday in Mexico City by hundreds of employees of the judicial administration who want to prevent the examination and vote on a reform that would provide for the direct election of judges and magistrates.
Before dawn, they surrounded the San Lazaro building to protest against the constitutional reform of the ruling left-wing party Morena, which has a hypermajority in both houses of Congress.
The text, which also antagonizes the United States and investors, provides for the direct election of judges and magistrates from 2025 to fight against corruption, according to the government in place.
The reform is supported by the outgoing president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, who will take office on March 1.er October after winning the June 2 election with nearly 60% of the vote under the ruling party label.
The eleven “ministers” of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president upon ratification by the Senate. The judges and magistrates are designated by an administrative body, the Federal Council of the Judiciary.
“We know that this date is fundamental […] because their intention is to approve [la réforme] “hastily, without analysis, without further dialogue,” Patricia Aguayo Bernal, spokeswoman for the judicial workers, told a local radio station in the morning.
In response to the blockage, the leader of the ruling party’s parliamentary group, Ricardo Monreal, asked the deputies not to go there and announced on X that the examination and vote would be held in another location.
Morena and its allies, which won the June 2 general election, hold two-thirds of the 500 seats needed to pass constitutional reforms without having to negotiate with the opposition, and are just one vote short of a two-thirds majority in the Senate.
On August 22, U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar warned that the reform posed a “threat” to bilateral trade relations “and a “risk” to Mexican democracy. The Mexican government denounced “interference” in its internal affairs.