Politics: Dirty tricks paved the way for passage of the judicial reform, but major fights remain, with a constitutional crisis possible
President López Obrador’s much heralded Judicial Reform was approved in the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate, and, at last count, by 23 of the country’s 32 states, clearing the way for its promulgation, which was signed on September 15 and published in the Official Gazette. But the proposal provoked a firestorm of protest, including a strike by more than 60,000 judicial employees and judges. The strong-arm tactics Morena employed to win the necessary two-thirds qualified majority vote in the Senate –which included detaining the father of a senator whose absence that day gave the ruling party its qualified majority— also provoked indignation and fear of what this “end justifies the means” approach might mean for the future of the Mexican political and judicial systems. It sparked concern and repudiation and proved to be a political disaster and a harbinger of what many fear will be a future judicial system marked by arbitrary criteria and behavior.
The public outcry is largely centered on the content of the reform, specifically the popular election of judges, justices, and magistrates. This will eliminate the autonomy and independence of the system of justice, tying judges to the political criteria and priorities of the party in power.
If the legislative maneuvering that was employed and the content of the reform as such are challenged, and the Supreme Court rules that the process must be repeated or declares the reform unconstitutional, this would undoubtedly provoke a crisis. It is conceivable that Morena and its allies would refuse to abide by a Supreme Court decision that it would consider illegal for invading the constitutional authority of the legislative branch and representing a conflict of interest.
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who takes office on October 1, will be inheriting the immense power amassed by AMLO in the presidency, but also a political crisis resulting from Morena’s arbitrariness, intolerance, and refusal to engage in dialogue. The next few weeks may be crucial for the country’s future.
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