President López Obrador expressed satisfaction this morning with the Senate’s approval of two constitutional amendments that end immunity from prosecution for the president, senators and deputies by eliminating what is known as the fuero,

Yesterday, a nearly unanimous vote by 111 senators approved the amendments, under which the president and members of Congress can be held accountable for treason, corruption, election fraud and other serious crimes such as homicide, rape, kidnapping, involvement with organized crime and human trafficking.

Only one senator voted against the initiative.

The president called the decision, which he first proposed to Congress in December, a landmark.

“This has not appeared [in the law] since the constitution of 1824. With these amendments, after being ratified by the House of Deputies and state congresses, it will be possible to bring criminal charges against a president.”

The president urged lawmakers in the lower house to seize the opportunity to expand accountability even further.

“Since this reform is going on to the Chamber of Deputies, I hope they will add [a clause] so that state governors can be held accountable in this way, too, so that we can put an end to corruption and impunity.”

After a vote by deputies the amendments will need approval by a simple majority of the states, or 17 of the 32, before becoming law.

Source: El Financiero (sp), Excélsior (sp)