August 25, 2024, 5:28 PM
August 25, 2024, 5:28 PM
Hundreds of people protested this Sunday in the streets of Mexico City due to a controversial constitutional reform promoted by the ruling party that seeks the popular election of judges and magistrates.
Protesters marched from downtown Monument to the Revolution at the Zócalo of the capital, the country’s main public square, waving Mexican flags and shouting slogans such as “We are the guardians of the Constitution!” and “Mexico, listen, this is your fight!”
“I want a country with law, not without law. I want a country above all with laws, fair judges, trained judges, quality judges.“with experience,” Marisela Castillo, a 66-year-old housewife, told AFP.
The election of judges and magistrates by popular vote is part of a reform of the Judicial Branch promoted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose term ends on October 1.
The reform will be addressed in the legislature that will begin on September 1, in which the ruling party will have the necessary majorities to achieve its approval without having to negotiate with other political forces.
Hundreds of judicial workers, including judges and magistrates, went on strike last Monday, alleging that their labour rights were being violated.
They argue that the reform eliminates the judicial career, since promotions would be replaced by elections to become federal judges. They also point out that the independence of the judiciary from political interests is called into question.
“What is being done through this reform, “Apart from the modification of salaries and the removal of various rights, it is cutting short the judicial career”Roberto Zayas (39), a judicial employee, told AFP.
This reform also strained the Mexican government’s relationship with the United States and Canada, partners in the T-MEC free trade agreement.
U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar He said last Thursday that the popular election of judges “threatens” the commercial relationship between both countries and is a “risk” for Mexican democracy.
His Canadian counterpart, Graeme Clark, said that investors in his country were concerned about the reform and that they expected a “judicial system that works if there are problems.”
The López Obrador government described Salazar’s statement as “interventionist”“, while the president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum – who takes office on October 1 – stressed that in the United States judges are elected by popular vote.
