The outgoing president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, promulgated on Sunday, September 15, the decree of a controversial and unique law in the world on the election of all judges and magistrates by a “popular vote”This text worries the United States, investors and the judiciary.
“I will sign the decree for the publication of the reform of the Constitution with the aim of improving the judiciary”“The leftist nationalist president, who is ending his unique six-year term with a record popularity of almost 70%, said in a video released in the afternoon. At the end of the recording, he signs the decree alongside the future president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who will take power on October 1 after winning the presidential election in a single round on June 2 with almost 60% of the votes.
Both are leading figures in the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), which also has a two-thirds majority in the Congress of Deputies and is one vote away in the Senate, allowing for the swift approval of the constitutional reform.
In the video posted on his X account, the president justified the reform of the judiciary, which according to Washington represents a ” risk “ for Mexican democracy and ” threat “ for bilateral trade relations. “We need justice to reach everyone, for there to be no corruption in the judiciary, for judges, magistrates and ministers to literally apply the principle that nothing is outside the law and no one is above the law.”He said. The outgoing president asked “a true state of law” signing the decree on National Independence Day.
Washington’s concern
In the evening, the president will launch the latest news to the crowd gathered at the foot of the National Palace in the Zócalo – the largest square in Latin America. “cry” of his mandate, celebrating the beginning of the fight for independence in 1810.
Under the reform, Mexico will become the first country in the world to elect all of its judges by popular vote, including those of the Supreme Court, as well as certain magistrates. Nearly 7,000 judicial officials – including some 1,600 federal judges – will be elected in 2025 and 2027. The judicial reform also reduces the number of Supreme Court judges from eleven to nine, while their terms are increased from 15 to 12 years.
On the part of the president, its promulgation once again provoked strong reactions from the “Amlovers” (nickname of the president’s supporters) and from his opponents.
The latter stormed into the chamber during Tuesday’s debate in the Senate to block the approval of the text. The session continued in the old Senate building. The reform worries business circles, at a time when the Mexican economy is losing strength (growth revised downwards for 2024 from 2.4 to 1.5%, stock market drop of 2.8% in August, weakening of the peso against the dollar).
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the reform “It will threaten the historic trade relationship we have built, which is based on investor confidence in Mexico’s legal framework.”This has caused concern to the US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salzar, a former member of the US Senate and the Obama administration and a confidant of US President Joe Biden.
By 2023, Mexico will become the United States’ largest trading partner, ahead of China. Mexico, the world’s twelfth largest economy, is also plagued by violence from organized crime (drug trafficking, immigrants, extortion, etc.).
In a country that records some 30,000 homicides a year, the current justice system suffers from almost total inefficiency, according to the NGO Impunidad Cero: “Out of 100 crimes, only 6.4 are reported, of which 14% are solved. This means that the probability of solving a crime committed in our country is 0.9%. »
