After 4:00 in the morning, Morena and its allies celebrate the general approval of the judicial reform.
“President” and “It is an honor to be with Obrador” are their slogans, in front of the eyes of the Opposition that, despite its efforts, was unable to postpone the discussion of the constitutional modifications that the national leader of Morena, Mario Delgado, asked his coreligionists to give as a gift to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador before the end of his term.
In the Magdalena Mixhuca Weapons Room, Morena supporters also shout “coordinator,” in recognition of Ricardo Monreal, the leader of the Morena bench that operated to hold a session in an alternate venue, after the takeover of the San Lázaro legislative palace by workers of the Judicial Branch. It is the first time that Morena and its allies use their steamroller in the 66th Legislature.
For an hour, legislators cast their votes one by one. The Opposition voted unanimously against, but the PAN clarified that it did so under protest, in view of the provisional suspensions ordered by two judges to postpone the discussion of the constitutional amendments.
The majority approved the reform in general with 359 votes, five more than necessary to reach a qualified majority. The Opposition cast 135 votes against. The approval took place after 12 hours of discussion and after the tamales, atole and tacos served by the different parliamentary groups. Around 8:00 p.m., the court that served as the plenary hall was divided into various sections that were assigned to the different parliamentary groups. In the back, tables were placed where waiters served stewed tacos to deputies and Morena staff. Some of the rooms located below the stands were assigned to the PAN, so that the members of the bench could eat and rest. A waiting room was set up for the PRI members in the gym, while for the PT members a table was placed on one side of the hall, to which tamales and atole were brought for the members of the bench to have dinner. During the debate, which did not stop despite the dinner, the PT member Lilia Aguilar took advantage of the opportunity to attack the president of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, Norma Piña. Aguilar accused her of being heartless and of having deceived the workers of the Judiciary, telling them that the reform affects their labor rights. “Minister Norma Piña, you are heartless, you are a cruel and dehumanized woman. You have deceived the workers of the Judiciary by telling them that their labor rights will be affected, lying to them, but in reality you send the people you send to defend their privileges,” she said. The legislator challenged the Minister: “I challenge you, Minister Norma Piña, to come to the street, to come with the people you have deceived, to tell them the truth, tell them that you are coming to defend your privileges, but not only the economic privileges we have already talked about, your golden mafia privileges that you have in the Judicial Branch, tell them that you are coming to defend your businesses and your nepotism, tell them that you are coming to defend not only Minister Norma Piña and her privileges, but also the most rancid and voracious economic power in this country.” The Morena member Julio César Moreno reiterated that judicial reform is part of the popular mandate. The legislator maintained that with the election of judges by popular vote it is expected to end the matters of mandate and the judicial judges at the service of the Governors. The PRI member Sylvana Beltrones said she agreed that the Judicial Branch needs to be reformed to have greater impartiality, efficiency and transparency. However, he asked the majority to put aside the logic that what can be improved must be destroyed, as, he said, they did with Seguro Popular and they intend to do with INAI. “Comrades, what we want are impartial judges, not popular judges, we do not want their decisions to be due to those who elected them or the group that supported them, but that they truly adhere to the law. But in addition to that, you are adding inexperience, removing the requirements so that whoever truly has and wants access to justice, well, they may fall into the hands of someone who is not qualified for the same,” he said. Beltrones warned that the reform also introduces an extremely complex and extensive electoral process. “The immense burden of positions to be elected will make every citizen who wants to vote a burden on the polling stations, and you know it, so it is no coincidence that they have not set a minimum percentage for the vote to be binding. ‘Wow, even the popular consultations ask for 40 percent of the vote from the nominal list, here nothing, because they know that this reform cannot be possible at the polls and that will only cause a setback and a risk in access to justice,” she said. Tania Palacios Kuri, of the PAN, regretted that the new Legislature begins by discussing a ruling that “suffers from short-sightedness” not only because of its budgetary, legal and operational inconsistencies, but because of its partial vision of what justice is in Mexico. She accused the majority of trying to make the courts into campaign houses and of not addressing what truly represents a problem in access to justice, such as the lack of judges. “Of course we need judicial reform, but a reform that is comprehensive, a reform that is essential, a reform that does not have the purpose of subjugating, of making judges bow down to political power,” he said. At around 4:30 a.m., the legislators began the discussion of the reservations presented by the various parliamentary groups, which is expected to extend for several hours.
#Morena #steamroller
