Politics: Judicial Reform and moves to eliminate autonomous agencies spark widespread opposition
Although President Lopez Obrador and President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum feel, perhaps justly, that they have wind in their sails following Morena’s impressive showing on a national and local level in the June 2 elections, opposition to their moves aiming to eliminate the Autonomous Constitutional Agencies and approve the Judicial Reform are putting them on the defensive.
Their arguments for eliminating seven Autonomous Constitutional Agencies center on three problematic hypotheses: 1) that they are unnecessarily costly and engage in wasteful spending; 2) they were launched in support of neoliberal policies aimed at reducing the State to an administrative apparatus at the service of large corporations; 3) in many cases they duplicate the function of government departments and are inefficient in terms of fulfilling their goals.
Those opposing the reforms –which include business and professional associations and, of course, the agencies and their staff and employees- contend that their spending is microscopic compared to the federal budget. But their major argument is that the proposal to eliminate the autonomous agencies is a move by AMLO and Morena to concentrate power in the executive branch. In addition, they contend that the reforms could create serious problems for the country’s relations with its northern neighbors in the framework of the USMCA commercial agreement.
However, the public confrontation over AMLO, Sheinbaum and Morena’s proposals has centered more on the Judicial Reform and has taken the form of a strike by judicial branch employees and judges. The dispute has emboldened the opposition, still in disarray following its electoral setbacks.
The issue may come to a head this week when the Judicial Reform, having been approved by the Morena majority in the Chamber of Deputies, heads for a vote in the Senate. Morena and its allies need to gain just one vote from opposition senators to achieve the 2/3 qualified majority required to amend the Constitution. The opposition has closed ranks and is exerting pressure to ensure that none of its senators break ranks and vote with Morena. How this plays out may seriously affect Mexico’s future.
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