The reform would require that all Mexican judges be elected by popular vote
Mexico’s congress could approve President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s proposed overhaul of the country’s judiciary before he leaves office at the end of September, according to a top senator who previously promised to proceed with caution on the reform.
“It would not be a bad thing if he were to enact it,” Ricardo Monreal, the governing Morena party’s leader in the Senate, told reporters Wednesday, although he added that “times are very tight.”
AMLO, as the president is known, renewed his push for the judicial reform after Morena scored huge congressional victories in June 2 elections, potentially paving the way for constitutional changes that proved elusive throughout his six-year term.
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AMLO’s calls for the “urgent” approval of the reform once lawmakers take office in early September caused sharp losses for the Mexican peso last month on fears that it would remove checks on power.
Monreal sought to allay fears about the overhaul, saying in June that lawmakers would approach it with “sensitivity.” President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who will take office Oct. 1, also said that while the government should prioritize the effort, it should be discussed widely by law schools and judicial workers.
The judicial reform would require that all Mexican judges, including Supreme Court justices, be elected by popular vote, a change opposition parties and legal and advocacy groups have called a threat to democracy. Because it is a constitutional change, it requires approval by two-thirds of lawmakers in both houses of congress.
Morena’s governing coalition won supermajority control of the lower house in the June vote, and fell just three seats shy of gaining two-thirds of the Senate.
Copyright Bloomberg News
