After unprecedented discussion, judicial reform is going ahead

Fernando Camacho and Enrique Mendez

The newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, September 4, 2024, p. 4

With an unprecedented six-round discussion in general, which could not change the decision of the majority, Morena and its allies were preparing to approve this morning the reform to the Judicial Branch of the Federation, which provides for the election in 2025 of new ministers, magistrates and judges, in a process that was described as the step of an enlightened elite to a generation of common lawyers with a perception of social reality.

In contrast to the opposition’s position, the parliamentary force that dominates the House left no room for doubt as to the outcome of the vote: the reform is going ahead! And in explaining the scope of the amendment to the Constitution, the PT stated that It is not only about reforming, but also about re-establishing the Judiciary.

The new absolute majority debuted its strength with the first major reform of the so-called plan Cduring a session that had taken more than 10 hours by the time this edition went to press and was extended until dawn on Wednesday. The opposition described the amendments as hasty, especially since the Senate is expected to receive the minutes today to process them in committees.

The long debate, at times heated, ranged from accusations by PAN, PRI and MC of alleged contempt for the two provisional suspensions of judges – a third was received during the night – to Morena’s position that the reform is the result of the June 2 vote.

From the improvised tribune on the field of the Sala de Armas of Magdalena Mixhuca (birthplace in Nahuatl), the coordinator of Morena, Ricardo Monreal, affirmed that one of the reasons why President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent a package of 20 initiatives in February was for the gross interference of the Judiciary in the decisions of the Legislature and because a Congress without a Morena majority rejected fundamental constitutional amendments.

He said that during the campaign, the Morena candidates sought support at the polls in order to have the votes to approve them. We told people that if they voted for us, they were voting for the President’s reforms. We didn’t fool anyone.he said.

Monreal’s statement was assumed by PAN, PRI and MC members as “a vendetta“against the Judiciary. PAN member Paulina Rubio said in this regard: Everything has a cause. The President’s V for revenge against a Judiciary that did not bow down and stood up to him.

Retired minister Olga Sánchez Cordero – who is part of the working group reviewing the ruling – did not attend the session because, she stated in a message, she began to feel ill on Monday and her cardiologist decided to hospitalize her.

From the start of the debate, the PAN objected to the legality of the session, and together with the PRI stated that they were attending with reservations, in a move to be on the safe side: by participating in the process, according to their position, they would not fall into a possible contempt and were present to deliver their political message against the reform.

In fact, the agenda and the agreement of the Political Coordination Board to move the headquarters from San Lázaro to Mixhuca was voted on when the deputies were already in the sports center and after a bitter discussion in which, according to the MC coordinator, Ivonne Ortega, when she asked Ricardo Monreal why the rush, he replied: because we are the majority and because I say so!

In the absence of an electronic attendance board, the registration of deputies was done by hand on folding tables located behind the improvised board of directors. A song was sung quorum of 372 deputies, but PAN, PRI and MC objected that there was no certainty of the identity of those attending.

Ruben Moreira, coordinator of the tricolorstated that if the certification is not made, quorum, I know what’s going to happen: we’re going to challenge.

The opposition insisted on stopping the session, which, according to the PAN, was carried out hidden from the people, in a denand in response the coordinator of the Labor Party, Reginaldo Sandoval, cut short: The minority is not going to impose on us the conditions to carry out the work that the people of Mexico mandated us to do..

After the parties’ positions and six rounds of voting, the resolution began to be voted on almost at 1:30 in the morning, by each of the deputies by voice vote. In the first minutes of today, the plenary began to discuss 610 reservations in particular. Morena, deputies explained, was negotiating some changes with the federal government.

The reform provides for changes to the operation of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. The number of justices is reduced from 11 to nine; the first and second chambers are abolished; the number of votes of justices for their rulings to be binding goes from eight to six.

The salary of ministers cannot be higher than that of the President of the Republic; the duration of ministers’ office is reduced from 15 to 12 years; the retirement pension of ministers will be voided and those in office who wish to participate in the election must resign.

The ruling provides that, for all elected positions within the Judicial Branch of the Federation, public or private financing of campaigns and the hiring of radio and television spaces will be prohibited, but they will have the right to official time in electronic media; the parties will not be able to intervene in the process.

At night, waiters began to set up tables and tablecloths to serve stewed tacos and fresh waters. Pizzas and hot dogs and in the gardens of the sports center, Congressman Cuauhtémoc Blanco offered sirloin tacos.