MEXICO CITY, Sept 12 (Askume) – Mexico’s president said on Thursday a majority of state legislatures had approved a controversial judicial reform, the final legislative step in the process of approving a constitution.
The reform bill , which sees thousands of judges elected by popular suffrage, approved by two-thirds of senators after a heated debate on Wednesday night, has now been published in the official government gazette and will come into force.
The lower house approved sweeping reforms earlier this month, giving a definitive victory to the leftist ruling Morena party and its allies, while efforts by the country’s opposition have failed.
Changes to the Mexican Constitution require a two-thirds vote in Congress and then approval by a majority of Mexico’s 32 state legislatures.
Outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced at his regular morning press conference that 18 local legislative bodies had approved the bill.
“The judicial reform has been approved,” López Obrador said, referring to all the state legislatures that have voted on it over the past few days.
The president, who has made the reform a priority in his final months in office, said it would be “great” if it were published in the official gazette on Sept. 15, a day before the country’s Independence Day.
