MEXICO CITY, Sept 11 (Askume) – Mexico’s Senate approved sweeping judicial reforms on Wednesday that would overhaul the country’s judiciary through universal suffrage, a move critics worry could threaten the rule of law and harm the economy.
The reform is a major victory for outgoing leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the final months of his term.
In a marathon session that had to be halted and extended after protesters broke into the Senate building, the ruling Morena party and allies secured the final two-thirds majority needed to approve the reforms, triggering protests and a strike by judicial officers.
Senators voted in favour of the bill by a majority of 86 to 41, which was welcomed by the ruling party.
Mexico’s incoming president, Claudia Sheinbaum, also celebrated the approval on social media, congratulating lawmakers on the sweeping changes she said were in line with the will of the people.
“Corruption and privileged rule are becoming a thing of the past, and true democracy and the rule of law are being established,” he wrote in a post on X.
The approval came after a tense final legislative debate and high political drama as the ruling coalition came to power on Tuesday just one seat short of the majority needed to enshrine reforms in the constitution.
But one opposition MLA switched sides and voted in favour of the bill, while another abstained because he claimed he was detained to prevent him from voting.
The leader of López Obrador’s Morena party denies any wrongdoing.
“This is a sad day for our Mexico,” said Senator Alejandro Moreno, president of the centrist opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party. The reforms were passed “with the worst possible tactics and under unimaginable pressure and duress”.
López Obrador, who often clashes with senior judges, has repeatedly said that reforms are vital to restore the integrity of Mexico’s judiciary and ensure it serves the people rather than elite and criminal interests.
Critics, however, say this would lead to a dangerous concentration of power in Morena’s hands.
Mexico’s main trading partners, the United States and Canada, have warned that the major changes could undermine the USMCA trade agreement as they would create significant legal uncertainty and have a negative impact on investment.
The adjustment also unnerved markets, with the Mexican peso down roughly 17% since the June 2 election, in which legislative candidates Sheinbaum and Morena won landslide victories.
As senators debated the reforms on Tuesday, protesters waving Mexican flags and chanting “traitors” stormed the Senate building, forcing the session to be suspended and moved to another location.
A key element of the constitutional changes approved by the House of Commons last week is that for the first time more than 6,500 judges and magistrates, including the Supreme Court, will be elected by universal suffrage.
In the United States, only Bolivia has such a system.
Following the reform, the number of Supreme Court judges was reduced from 11 to 9, the term of office was shortened to 12 years, the minimum age requirement of 35 was removed, and the work experience requirement was reduced to 5 years.
Sheinbaum, who takes office on October 1, will be tasked with managing the consequences of the reforms , which could impact her first few months in office.
