MEXICO CITY, Sept 10 (Askume) – Mexico’s Senate resumed debate on a controversial judicial reform at a different location on Tuesday evening after protesters stormed the chamber in the middle of the session.
Protesters vandalised the Senate building during the debate, escalating weeks of widespread protests over reforms that critics fear will undermine the rule of law in the country.
The debate is expected to last until Wednesday morning, continuing at 7 pm local time (0100 GMT) and has moved to the Xicotencatl building, the former base of the Senate.
Earlier in the day, Senate President José Gerardo Fernández adjourned the session and asked lawmakers to remain calm as protesters occupied the upper floor of the house, chanting “traitor” and protesting the reforms.
Mexico’s main trading partners, the United States and Canada, have warned that the change could undermine the three-country trade agreement, the USMCA, and have a negative impact on investment.
A key element of the constitutional reforms proposed by outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is to elect more than 6,500 judges and magistrates, including the Supreme Court, through universal suffrage.
The reforms also propose reducing the number of Supreme Court judges from 11 to 9, reducing terms of office to 12 years, and reducing the work experience requirement from 10 to 5 years.
López Obrador and newly elected President Claudia Sheinbaum have strongly defended the reform, saying it is necessary to make judges accountable and reduce corruption.
Critics slammed it as a double use of power by the ruling party Morena.
As senators debated the reforms, opposition lawmakers accused the ruling bloc of cheating to obtain the required two-thirds majority.
Despite speculation that Senator Miguel Ángel Yunes of the opposition National Action Party could support the reforms, the vote is expected to be tight as the ruling coalition officially lacks one senator.
