Zaldívar: the minister who will push for the ‘final blow’ to the Supreme Court

“He will help us a lot because he will follow up on the constitutional reforms, particularly the reform of the judiciary -obviously, with the autonomy that this implies-, but monitoring is important because there are a series of essential areas that must be fulfilled by the Executive; remember that there are 18 Constitutional Reforms and other reforms that we will propose at the time,” this is how the former president of the Supreme Court described part of the tasks that he will have.

In light of this appointment, constitutional lawyers considered that the position given to the retired minister It is more of a political decision for having promoted Claudia Sheinbaum’s presidential campaign.

Attorney José María Soberanes, a professor and researcher at the Universidad Panamericana, recalled that Arturo Zaldívar left his position at the Supreme Court to defend the next president in the media.

“I think it is logical, because taking into account how he burned his bridges and resigned from the Supreme Court for supporting Claudia Sheinbaum and how he dedicated himself to defending her, when he was invited to a talk show in the media. So I see (the appointment) in this logical sense, a thank you to Minister Zaldívar,” he commented.

Zaldívar and his ability to approach the 4T

Arturo Zaldívar was nominated to the Supreme Court by then-President Felipe Calderón along with Jorge Carlos Adame Goddard and Eduardo Ferrer Mac-Gregor Poisot. The Senate of the Republic elected him with 91 votes for the term December 2009 to November 2024.

The arrival of the so-called “Fourth Transformation” to the Presidency of the Republic in 2018 practically coincided with the election of Zaldívar as president of the Court, which took place in January 2019. Soon, he began a close relationship with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who attended his work reports, supported him as his own initiative to reform the Judiciary, and supported him to extend his term as president of the Supreme Court of Justice.

The “collaboration” between the Court and the Executive has been criticized because President Andrés Manuel López Obrador himself has revealed that he intervened in decisions of the Court.

“When Minister Zaldívar was the president of the Court, there was more restraint. Still, when there was a matter of this type, of this kind, we respectfully intervened, because it is not only freedom, even when it is a matter of house arrest, for politicians, but also organized crime, with a lot of power,” President López Obrador acknowledged on February 21 in his press conference, noting that he met with Zaldívar to discuss highly relevant cases, such as that of the former director of Pemex, Emilio Lozoya.

In April 2021, when senators discussed and approved reforms to restructure the organization and operation of the Judiciary, the vice-coordinator of the parliamentary group of the Green Party, Raúl Bolaños Cacho, proposed adding a transitional article that extended Arturo Zaldívar’s presidency from four to six years.
Despite the controversy, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador supported the proposal, which he believed would serve to promote a profound reform of the Judiciary.

The proposal was approved by the Congress of the Union, however, The plenary session of the Supreme Court of Justice declared unconstitutional the thirteenth transitional article of the Organic Law of the Judicial Branch of the Federation, which is why Zaldívar could not extend his term.

Without complying with the precepts established by law, Zaldívar announced that he would resign from the Court of Justice on November 7, 2023.

“My term in the Court has ended. During these 14 years I promoted the most avant-garde criteria that constituted the new constitutional paradigm in the defense of human rights for all people. It is now time to continue serving my country in consolidating the transformation of a more just and equal Mexico, in which those who have the least and need it the most are the priority,” she wrote on her social networks.

Within a matter of days, the Senate of the Republic accepted his resignation even though Article 98 of the Constitution states that “they will only proceed in serious cases.” Although he resigned from his post, Zaldívar did not do so with his pension of 192,461 pesos per month.

Days after leaving office, Zaldívar joined Claudia Sheinbaum’s project. During the campaign, he was in charge of coordinating the Dialogues for Transformation in the area of ​​Justice.