flawed process
Analysts assess that the process was also clouded by the intervention of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. On December 26 in his morning conference he affirmed that she is not his candidate, but she “is a woman who agrees with the transformation of the country.”
Three days earlier, on the 23rd, he minimized possible plagiarism as a student “error”, and even more so “the president said that he did not want the rich minister to remain. Who is the rich minister or why does he allude to the ministers?” conservatives?” warns Garza Onofre, the UNAM expert.
The specialist Reyes, also from UNAM, alerts: with “the defense that the president made of it, it detracts from attributes” due to the autonomous role that the SCJN should play.
For Concha Cantú, there has been presidential interference in the Judiciary before and “in several episodes he has threatened, pushed against the wall and criticized the things that the Court decides.”
But it is normal for the process to be complicated because the president of the Court “is surely the second most important official in the country, not only because of the things that the Court decides but because of the size, budget, and resources of the Federal Judiciary.”
But with his messages, President López Obrador caused “the succession to be clouded and to avoid taking everyone to the dance and not further diminish the credibility of the SCJN” the minister should leave the Court, Garza Onofre insists.
But it’s not that easy, he admits. Even when a resignation from office is possible, there is no regulation. For this reason, “when something like this happens, we are willing to God and wait for those involved to take a step back.”
What is certain is that neither President López Obrador who proposed her for office, nor the Senate of the Republic that ratified her, nor the 10 peer ministers that make up the Plenary can make a decision that only concerns the minister.
“The autonomy and independence of the SCJN lies precisely in that, that they are appointments for 15 years and those involved cannot respond to pressure or designees from other powers such as the Legislative or Executive,” he states.
Article 98 of the Constitution states that the resignations of the members of the SCJN will proceed exclusively “for serious reasons”, that these will be submitted to the President of the Republic and that if he accepts them, the Senate must give his approval.
Since it only says that, “what comes into play is ethics and that is why we are asking that she herself step aside.”
The most recent case, remember, is that of the now ex-minister Eduardo Medina Mora, who resigned and did not explain the serious reasons for it. “We never found out and we believe that it was because of the information that he had million-dollar transfers that could not be explained, an investigation folder was opened, but it came to nothing.”
That is why “what we can understand is that he resigned due to threats, pressure or to negotiate” and the same can apply now with Esquivel Mossa.
“There may be pressure, yes, there may be blackmail, negotiations as well, but not for the president to force her to resign, not at all” and no one could do so if she doesn’t decide, she says.
On the other hand, “if you can request a license for up to a month in which it is clarified but you are not going to do it, you are determined to get to the last thing.”
