With the ruling Morena party and its allies just one vote short of a supermajority in the Mexican Senate, all 43 opposition senators are under pressure from court workers and others to vote against the government’s judicial reform proposal in order to prevent the constitutional changes it seeks.
The opposition senators, representatives of the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and Citizens Movement (MC), are also under pressure from the reform’s architect, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who on Friday called on them to support the initiative that, if approved, would allow Mexican citizens to elect Supreme Court justices and other judges.
The 128 senators are expected to vote on the judicial reform next week after lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies approved it on Wednesday.
Judicial reform puts a spotlight on the Mexican Senate
Senate President Gerardo Fernández Noroña, a Morena senator, claimed on Wednesday that the ruling party coalition has already secured the two-thirds majority required to approve the constitutional bill.
However, all 43 opposition senators have publicly committed to voting against the reform.
The national leader of the PRI, Alejandro Moreno, said Friday that Mexico’s 43 opposition senators are “firm” in their decision to not support the judicial reform. He declared that it won’t pass the Senate.
Two days earlier, Fernández Noroña asserted that a two-thirds majority in the Senate is “guaranteed” for Morena, the Labor Party and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico, even though the number of seats they hold in the 128-member Senate — 85 — is one below the supermajority threshold.
“I would say that we even have a surplus [of support], but you’ll see on the day of the vote. I believe we’ll be above the two-thirds [majority],” he said without revealing which opposition senators would vote in favor of the judicial reform.
Court workers weigh in on the judicial reform
Court workers from various states have set up a protest camp outside the federal Senate building in Mexico City ahead of senators’ consideration of the judicial reform proposal.
On Friday, judicial workers also marched along Paseo de la Reforma to the Senate, located on the famous boulevard that leads into the historic center of the capital.
At the conclusion of the march, they called on the 43 opposition senators to resist the pressure they’re facing and stop the proposal López Obrador sent to Congress in February.
The court employees contended that it will affect their work conditions, and that it poses a threat to the separation of powers and democracy in Mexico, as United States Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar has claimed.
“This reform will have very serious consequences for our rights in all areas — social rights, political rights and also economic rights. That’s why we’re here,” Lucero de Alba, a judge from Tlaxcala, told the Reforma newspaper.
“This is a final call to our 43,” she said, referring to the opposition senators. “Our 43 have all our support.”
De Alba also sent a message to two senators who campaigned as representatives of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), but later decided to join Morena, putting the ruling party and its allies just one vote short of a highly-coveted supermajority.
“To the two [senators] from PRD we say that you still have the chance to return to the [right] path,” she said.
Protesters asserted that the direct election of judges from candidates nominated by the president, the Congress and the judicial branch will allow Morena to co-opt the judiciary, and thus control all three branches of government.
“The Senate of the Republic perhaps has the greatest responsibility of the past century,” said Ulises Camacho, a court worker from San Luis Potosí.
It can either “allow the republic to live or kill it with the stroke of a pen,” he said.
“We choose the republic, the separation of powers and judicial independence. That’s why we’re here,” Camacho said.
He and other protesting court workers argued that the reform will lead to the politicization of the judiciary as candidates in judicial elections will have to campaign for the positions they seek.
Critics of the reform contend that Morena — given its ample support among Mexicans as demonstrated in the recent elections — could stack the nation’s courts with justices and judges sympathetic to its political agenda, and thus remove an important check on executive and legislative power.
López Obrador, Morena’s founder, and President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, his political protégé, have rejected claims that the judiciary will lose its independence. Instead, they argued, renewal is needed because Mexico’s justice system is currently plagued by corruption and other ills.
Among other objectives, the reform seeks to ensure that no judges earn more than the president, and to create a Tribunal of Judicial Discipline that could sanction and even fire judges for illegal or improper conduct.
AMLO: ‘The judicial power is rotten, invaded by corruption’
At his morning press conference on Friday, López Obrador called on senators to put “the interest of the nation” first and vote in favor of the judicial reform proposal.
“I’m seeing that there is a lot of pressure on legislators, I see that [businessman] Claudio X. González — who is like the boss of the mafia of power — … is openly telling senators to vote against the reform,” he said.
“I want to address senators, with complete respect, [to tell them] to act with independence, with freedom and to put the interest of the people and the interest of the nation ahead of personal interest, partisan interest,” said López Obrador, who has just 24 full days left in office.
He asserted that it is not in Mexico’s interests to “maintain a judicial power that is subjugated by crime.”
“The judicial power is rotten, invaded by corruption. It doesn’t impart justice for the benefit of the people of Mexico. It is a power that is hijacked, taken, at the service of organized crime and white-collar crime,” said the president, who has been angered by court decision against his government’s policies and projects.
“It’s a power for the [elite and criminal] minorities, that’s more than proven. Although there are exceptions, corrupt judges, magistrates and justices dominate. It’s not possible to defend that,” he said.
“Why not bet on renewing the judicial power, cleaning it of corruption, purifying it so that there is an authentic rule of law?” López Obrador asked opposition senators.
“Are you going to continue defending foreign companies that come to loot, to steal, to affect the economy of Mexicans? Are you going to keep representing those interests?” he continued.
A reporter asked López Obrador about the possibility of the Supreme Court issuing a ruling that prevents the Congress from considering the judicial reform, a course of action that Chief Justice Norma Piña has sought advice on from her colleagues.
“It would be an aberration and of course a flagrant violation of the constitution to stop the process of analysis, debate and approval of the constitutional reform, as the case may be,” he said.
“… There is no constitutional foundation, it would be an arbitrary act, and this would affect public life, of course it would affect what should be an authentic rule of law. It would be like opting for the law of the jungle,” López Obrador said.
‘Judicial power by popular vote!’
It’s not just people opposed to the judicial reform proposal who have taken to the streets — some of those in favor of the initiative have as well.
On Thursday, thousands of public and private university students gathered outside the Supreme Court in the historic center of Mexico City to demonstrate their support for the constitutional bill.
Among the chants they shouted were:
- “Judicial power by popular vote!”
- “Judicial reform, national priority!”
- “Judicial power, national shame!”
Camilo Villareal, a student who spoke at the demonstration, said that the “excellent conditions” that currently favor the approval of the reform — i.e. Morena’s strong majority in both houses of Congress — are “the result of the sovereign decision” Mexican citizens took at the ballot box on June 2.
A majority of people voted in favor of “the transformations the country demands — deep transformations, not simulated ones,” he said.
Luis Flores, a history student at the National Autonomous University, told the La Jornada newspaper that the election of judges by the people is a “necessity.”
He noted that citizens already elect lawmakers and the president, and asserted that another essential part of the “democratic system” is electing judges.
Rafael Barajas, a cartoonist, writer and left-wing political activist, also spoke at the demonstration outside Mexico’s highest court.
“This Supreme Court recently struck down 74 laws [approved by] the Congress, violating the principle of the separation of powers,” he said, noting that one of the laws it ruled against was the Electricity Industry Law, which favored the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission over private companies.
The conflicting views expressed by Mexicans from a range of walks of life are indicative of polarization within society over the judicial reform.
One recent poll found that 52% of more than 1,000 business leaders supported the reform, while 48% opposed it.
Another poll of ordinary citizens found 45% support for the reform and 24% opposition, with the remainder either neutral or declining to offer an opinion. Curiously, the same poll detected 54% support for the appointment of judges and 42% support for their popular election.
With reports from Reforma, La Jornada, Expansión Política, Aristegui Noticias, El Financiero and Milenio
There was a pretty obvious Freudian slip in AMLOs response ; are you going to continue defending foreign companies that come to loot, to steal . . . . He has in anger revealed his true beliefs – there is no real interest in FDI, multi national employment or know how – he will drag the economy back decades (if you let him)
perhaps this is why the Peso has weakened almost 20% since the election? why would a poll have 52% of businesses supporting this reform?
I don’t think you get the part where there have been companies that pay very little to the point it only benefits the companies not the people.
Ya think? Watch it go to 25+ if it passes.
👍
can anyone explain this judicial reform issue concisely? i don’t know the politics of Mexico or it’s political structure. Thank you
Hi Scott,
Obviously the most controversial aspect of the reform proposal is the plan to allow citizens to elect Supreme Court justices and thousands of other judges from candidates nominated by the president, the Congress and the judiciary.
Arguments for and against that plan are outlined in this article and several others we have recently published.
As things stand, when a Supreme Court justice position becomes available the president submits a short list of three candidates to the Senate and senators vote to appoint one of them.
Many other judges are appointed by the Federal Judiciary Council. Unlike the United States, no judges are currently elected in Mexico.
There are many other aspects of the proposed reform. We’ve summarized some of them in previous articles including the one we published this week after the lower house of Congress approved the constitutional bill.
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/politics/amlo-judicial-reform-bill-one-step-senate-approval/
Among other changes the reform bill proposes are:
* The reduction of the number of Supreme Court justices to 9 from 11.
* The reduction of justices’ terms to 12 years from 15.
* The reduction of the experience required to serve as a judge and justice.
* The adjustment of salaries so that no judge earns more than the president.
* The elimination of the Federal Judiciary Council.
* The creation of a Tribunal of Judicial Discipline that could sanction and even fire judges for improper/illegal
conduct.
* Having “faceless” (unidentified) judges preside over organized crime cases and other cases where the safety
of the judge could be risk.
To pass Congress, constitutional bills such as this one must be approved by 2/3 of both houses of Congress. If that occurs, and a majority of state legislatures ratify the reform, the president can sign it into law.
The government proposes holding the first judicial elections next year, and then again in 2027 at the same time as the midterm congressional elections.
As you alluded to above, concerns about the reform proposal is a major factor in the depreciation of the Mexican peso after Claudia Sheinbaum and the ruling Morena party won comprehensive victories in the June 2 elections.
I hope this helps.
Peter Davies
👌
Peter, what you are failing to explain is how these judicial reforms will effect the economy, nearshoring, investor confidence, currency markets, USMCA (formerly NAFTA) etc… This is the real story and why there is major opposition. If you’ve explained it in previous articles I apologize, but this is what needs to be told. IMHO this will be a sad day for Mexico if passed, especially given where Mexico is at this precise moment. Mexico has the potential to be a global powerhouse looking at their current manufacturing, export, and other economic indicators. If this reform if passed it will set Mexico back decades.
Hi George,
We have reported extensively on the view that the judicial reform will have an adverse impact on nearshoring and investor confidence, most recently in this article published on Thursday.
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/business/nearshoring-end-amlo-judicial-reform/
We have also reported on the view that the reform won’t have any negative impact on Mexico’s trade relationships or foreign investment inflows. President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum expressed that opinion this week.
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/politics/amlo-judicial-reform-bill-one-step-senate-approval/
The reform proposal is of course very controversial. We have made a concerted effort to report on the different opinions on both sides of the debate.
Peter Davies
Thank you. .I will look at the link next; it does not open in my phone. I have not even seen this analysis anywhere including your paper previously.
I am an Alta California lawyer who studied briefly the Mexican legal system, and I cannot obtain a copy of the proposals from anyone.
“campaign for the positions they seek” . Yes let them campaign in the open based on their good work, not based on corrupt work behind closed doors. With the supermajority, Morena could stack the courts anyway, so AMLO is actually putting an extra check and balance through the people’s vote.
If you know Spanish have a look on YouTube for political analysis, objectively leaning towards Morena: Sin Censura TV, Los Periodistas, Manuel Pedrero or Meme Yamel. Then you will understand why AMLO has a supermajority.
Morena can only use its supermajority to fill judgeships that become vacant due to expiring terms. This proposal would essentially allow them to stack the entire judiciary.
It is clear that US only sees the interest of its companies, that is the why of its opposition to Mexico’s reform. We know too that US dont even care for the wellbeing of its own people, just look at US Suprem Court own values: they defend the interest of minorities, and not ‘We the people”
Mexico is fighting to shift the conditions that created poverty. The judicial system is only one more step. There is much more to do. The fear created by US is always about “communism”. It is not about communism, it is about putting people first.
BTW, it is laughable that your news portrayed Alejandro Moreno as one of the oppositors, when he has not the moral compass nor the social or political standing to say what is wrong or right! He has lawsuits for corruption and recently committed a series of dubious acts to steal the PRI seat, among many other dishonorable things.
Ignore the distractions. Currently, judges are appointed by the powers that be. If the reform is passed, judges will be nominated by the powers that be, and the public will be able to vote from the approved candidates only. No difference.
This is a terrible idea as said by my Mexican friends.
I agree. AMLO has his own agenda. Don’t be confused as democracy will not prevail. When Morgan Stanley downgrades the country, businesses listen. This is not about the US. It’s about Mexico and being a democratic country. Pure and simple. Which is why the court employees are protesting.
Mexico’s current judges are corrupt. I welcome their ass booted out of office.
The present court apparently supports allowing GMO corn into Mexico that requires highly toxic pesticides that I thought were presently prohibited; the present court supports allowing international agriculture unlimited access to water: they are pro business to the degree that that works against many citizens in Mexico. The idea that the identity of judges can be hidden when prosecuting cartel members seems necessary. I would say FDI would dramatically increase with better prosecution of the cartels. Without that, Mexico is faced with implementing extra judicial measures used in El Salvadore. There are compromises to be made on this issue.
MND thanks again for your complete coverage
” . . . The reduction of the experience required to serve as a judge and justice . . . ” what could possibly be wrong with a justice judge getting a C+ in civics and a C- in judicial law during their “formative years” at the University ???
MND is obsessively opposing the judicial reform. The Mexican judiciary is scandalously corrupt, so what solution do the PRI, the PAN, and MND offer? None. Maintain the status quo, it seems. The SCOTUS is so corrupt that it’s definitely not the place for any US officials to criticize Morena’s judicial reform proposal.
I completely agree with John Wagner above. The PRI and PAN are and have always been corrupt, that is the reason they oppose the reform. The nepotism in the judicial power is disgraceful and shameful. If people can elect judges in the USA why can’t they do it in Mexico?
Thank you. .I will look at the link next; it does not open in my phone. I have not even seen this analysis anywhere including your paper previously.