At the beginning of the year, in Morena’s inner circle it was unthinkable that it would be possible to approve a reform to the Judicial Branch like the one that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was promoting, and whose cornerstone is that all federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, be elected by direct vote of the citizens. To achieve this ambitious goal, the ruling party required, necessarily, to obtain a landslide victory in the June elections. The stakes were very high: to win from the polls the qualified majority in the Chambers of Congress to easily approve amendments to the Constitution. The intention of this strategy, called Plan C, was simple: that the opposition would not represent an obstacle in the Legislature. López Obrador made an intense campaign from the popular Morning Conference in favor of his strategy. To the surprise of the opposition and of the Morena supporters themselves, the ruling party swept and won by far the qualified majority in the Chamber of Deputies, and in the Senate it has been one seat away from achieving it. With the numbers in hand, the ruling party’s parliamentary steamroller is about to fulfill López Obrador’s objective and give him “a gift” – in the words of Morena leader Mario Delgado – before he hands over power to the president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, on October 1. The amendment has advanced against all odds for months, and it has not been easy for the ruling party to overcome all resistance.
This Sunday, at the start of the new legislature, the Chamber of Deputies made public the ruling on the judicial reform, which marks the beginning of the parliamentary process required for its approval. This Tuesday, the plenary session —where Morena and its allies from the PT and PVEM control 73% of the seats— will discuss and vote on the ruling in general. On Wednesday, the debate on the reservations noted by the opposition legislators will take place. The amendment could be approved that same day or on Thursday. To complete the legislative process, the lower house will send the ruling to the Senate, which will act as the reviewing chamber. It is almost a fact that the senators will ratify the project as they receive it next week. The official bloc has 85 seats and is missing only one vote to achieve the two-thirds of the plenary session necessary to consolidate the constitutional reform. Once this procedure has been completed, the amendment must be approved by the Congresses of the majority of the country’s 32 states, something that is also feasible for the ruling party, which governs 24 entities. Finally, the Executive must promulgate the reform and publish it in the Official Gazette.
The protests against the reform have overwhelmed an unarmed opposition and have taken to the streets. On Sunday, hundreds of law students from various universities demonstrated in the Senate of the Republic, in an effort to counter the last report of the Government that López Obrador was giving in the Zócalo of Mexico City before his supporters. Days before, dozens of judges, magistrates and employees of the courts protested at the Angel of Independence. The Supreme Court of Justice has decided to go on a work stoppage, which adds to the closure of several courts in the States. In addition, employees of the Judicial Branch from the interior of the country are heading in caravans to the capital to demonstrate this Tuesday at the headquarters of the lower house.
The acts of resistance from the judiciary have gone beyond protest and have fallen into the legal sphere. Over the weekend, judges Martha Magaña, from Morelos, and Felipe Soto, from Chiapas, issued two resolutions that sought to prevent legislators from carrying out the reform. The Morena supporters considered that the judges overstepped their bounds and invaded the constitutional functions of the deputies. Sergio Gutiérrez, vice president of the lower house and member of Morena, announced that the judges who issued those resolutions would be subjected to impeachment and that they would be reported to the Attorney General’s Office. Previously, Gutiérrez had already promoted similar complaints against councilors of the Electoral Institute for casting votes contrary to the ruling party. The threat against the two judges caused indignation and accusations of political persecution from the Government.
Deputy Ricardo Monreal, parliamentary coordinator of Morena, has come out to put out the fire. The legislator said this Monday that these complaints and requests for impeachment would be stopped. “I think that yesterday [domingo] “They were going to be presented, but, even if they have been presented, they must be given a pause,” he said. “I believe that at this time prudence and tolerance help the country,” he added. The Lower House has formed a special commission to receive and process the latest requests for changes to the reform project, something in which the opposition sees a simulation of openness, since the ruling is already more than ironed out. This commission is headed by Senator Olga Sánchez Cordero, former minister of the Supreme Court.
With the imminent approval of the reform in the Chamber of Deputies, all eyes are on the Senate, where Morena and its allies still require a grain of help from the opposition to ratify the amendment. Last week it was announced that the two senators that the PRD had obtained, José Sabino Herrera and Araceli Saucedo, ended up in the ranks of Morena. The question is whether the vote that is still missing —and which is easily obtained— will come from the PAN, the PRI or the Citizen Movement. The parliamentary coordinator of the PAN, Guadalupe Murguía, has called for unity within her bench and also among the other opposition parties.[Debemos] “We must remain strong and united to honour the trust placed in us by 43% of citizens who did not vote for the ruling party,” he said.
The judicial reform has opened multiple fronts, even outside Mexico. The expectation of its approval has put enormous pressure on the peso, as investors fear that the judi
ciary will lose independence from the executive branch. The initiative has also damaged relations with the United States, Mexico’s main trading partner, and with Canada. Both North American countries have expressed criticism of the project, as they have stated that it puts democracy at risk and does not provide certainty for investments. The Association of Magistrates and Judges (JUFED) has pointed out that the reform even violates norms contained in the trade agreement between the three North American countries, the USMCA. The official judicial amendment has continued its course, despite all the warnings. This Tuesday it begins to reach its goal.
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