Former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Sunday made his first public appearance since finishing his six-year term eight months ago, leaving his ranch in the southern state of Chiapas to cast his vote in Mexico’s first-ever judicial elections.
AMLO, as the ex-president is best known, voted Sunday morning at a polling station in Palenque, where he now lives.
It was the first time he had been seen in public since handing over the presidential sash to President Claudia Sheinbaum on Oct. 1.
López Obrador, the architect of the 2024 judicial reform that allowed the judicial elections to take place, used a “cheat sheet” to help him select his preferred candidates from a field of thousands, the newspaper Reforma reported.
AMLO was filmed bending over at a cardboard voting booth as he filled out his ballots.
“It’s a historic election,” the septugenarian ex-president told reporters in Palenque.
“Never in the history of our country had the people directly decided, and had the right to elect judges, magistrates and Supreme Court justices,” said López Obrador, who was a fierce critic of the judiciary during his presidency.
“… This is the first time in history and that’s why I wanted to participate in this historic election,” he said.
“… I am very happy to live in a free and democratic country,” AMLO added.
⭕️ #ElecciónJudicial | #AMLO votó con acordeón en la casilla de #Palenque, #Chiapas. pic.twitter.com/5et8RLJDTf
— Código Magenta (@CodigoMagentaMx) June 1, 2025
When signing the judicial reform into law last September, López Obrador said:
“We should have an authentic, a true rule of law, not a crooked one. The simulation must end because it was said we lived in a democracy but we didn’t. An oligarchy dominated. Those right at the top were the ones who were in charge, a minority with the facade of democracy.”
AMLO seizes opportunity to offer public praise of Sheinbaum
On Sunday in Palenque, a city best known for its archeological site of the same name, López Obrador also took the opportunity to share an “opinion” with reporters.
“Something that I publicly confess [is that] we have the best president in the world, Claudia Sheinbaum,” he said, using the feminine Spanish word presidenta to refer to Mexico’s highly popular first female president.
“I repeat, we have the best president in the world, and I’m very happy to see you,” AMLO told reporters after casting his ballot for judicial candidates at the state and federal level.
Sheinbaum has expressed unwavering support for the judicial reform put forward by her predecessor and political mentor. Like AMLO, she has asserted on countless occasions that judicial elections were needed to get rid of corruption in Mexico’s judiciary.
In his brief encounter with the press, López Obrador also sent his “regards to all the people of Mexico” and declared that he hasn’t “been able to come out” because he is maintaining a busy schedule at his ranch.
“It’s [only] the third time I’ve left the farm because I’m writing,” he said.
“I’m doing something that you’ll like a lot, about our cultural greatness. Soon you will see a new book. Soon, very soon, at the end of the year,” said AMLO, a prolific writer.
Asked about his health, López Obrador — a heart attack survivor who has suffered a range of health problems — said he was “very well.”
With reports from El Economista, Reforma and La Jornada
