As protesters break into the Senate, Mexican lawmakers approve controversial constitutional change
Amid chaotic protests, with hundreds of demonstrators breaking onto the floor of Mexico’s Senate, lawmakers approved a controversial constitutional change early Wednesday that calls for the nation’s judges to be elected by popular vote.
The approval of the proposal by a razor-thin margin is a huge victory for outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a populist who has repeatedly clashed with Mexico’s courts during his six years in office, and who insists a sweeping overhaul of the judicial system is needed to make judges more accountable to the people.
The president’s proposal has been met with wide opposition, with legal experts, business leaders and even many of his leftist allies saying that it will undermine democratic checks and balances and strengthen the power of the governing Morena party. Thousands of Mexican judges have been on strike in protest in recent weeks, paralyzing the country’s legal system. The peso has plunged amid concerns that the reform could discourage foreign investment.
Mexico’s outgoing president could be basking in triumphs. But Andrés Manuel López Obrador is pushing a radical overhaul to the judicial system that is spurring fear for democracy.
On Tuesday night, as lawmakers gathered to weigh in on the proposal, hundreds of judicial workers and their supporters used pipes and chains to burst into the Senate chambers in an effort to block the vote.
“They have decided to sell out the nation,” Alejandro Navarrete, a 30-year-old judicial worker, told the Associated Press. “We intend to make it clear that the Mexican people won’t allow them to lead us into a dictatorship.”
Lawmakers eventually decamped to a nearby museum to resume their session. Though Morena lacked the supermajority in the Senate required to pass a constitutional change, its leaders were able to convince several senators from opposition parties to support the overhaul.
Mexico’s judges walked off the job following President Andres Manuel López Obrador’s plan to overhaul the judiciary, with judges elected not appointed.
“This ruling reflects the desire of the people of Mexico to improve judicial procedures and encourages an inclusive and sensitive approach,” said Ernestina Godoy, a Morena senator. “All public power comes from the people and is instituted for their benefit.”
The lower chamber of Congress voted to approve the president’s proposal last week, with lawmakers forced to meet inside a sports stadium because the doors to their headquarters had been blocked by angry demonstrators. To become law, the constitutional reform must be approved by a majority of Mexico’s state legislatures, most of which are currently controlled by Morena.
López Obrador’s proposal would make the country’s entire judicial branch — around 7,000 judges — stand for election.
Under Mexico’s current judicial system, those hoping to become federal judges must undergo training, pass public exams and be evaluated by an oversight council. The president nominates three candidates for each vacancy on the Supreme Court, and the Senate approves one.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador says Mexico’s communications with U.S. and Canadian embassies are ‘on pause’ after ambassadors criticized his plan for a judiciary overhaul.
Under the new reform, people would need only a law degree and a letter of recommendation from anyone to be eligible for some judgeships. The field of candidates would be winnowed down by a committee before being added to ballots. It’s unclear how many candidates would be allowed to run in any given race.
Meanwhile, the number of judges serving on the Supreme Court would shrink from 11 to nine, and their term would be shortened to 12 years from the current 15.
Critics of the plan warn that elections would turn judges from impartial interpreters of the law into political actors who might issue decisions to win votes or to please campaign donors, even criminal organizations.
López Obrador pushed the plan after several of his key legislative efforts — including a proposal to cede control of the National Guard to the military and another to increase the role of the government in the energy sector — were blocked by judges that he says are corrupt.
The proposal has drawn extensive criticism, from Mexico’s trading partners, international experts on the rule of law and even the Catholic Church. Church leaders in Mexico said this week that they were praying that senators reflect on the responsibility before them, and warned that the new system could further strip victims of crime in Mexico from getting justice.
Critics are concerned about the proposal because López Obrador’s Morena party holds an overwhelming majority in Congress. If voters elect judges friendly to the party, Morena would essential control all three branches of government. Some have warned that it would return Mexico, which was ruled by a single party for most of the 20th century, to a one-party state.
Read more coverage of Mexico and the Americas.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
