Mexican Congress passes polarizing judiciary reform after mass protests

MEXICO CITY

The ruling Morena party approved a judiciary reform in the Mexican Senate early Wednesday that was promoted by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, enabling judges and magistrates to be elected by popular vote.

Although the opposition tried to block the controversial reform that has caused mass protests across the country and led to the closure of courts and tribunals in most of Mexico, Morena managed to secure enough votes through an unlikely alliance.

Although the debate about the bill was interrupted after protesters stormed the Senate, legislators passed the reform with 86 votes.

The reform announced by Lopez Obrador in February sparked criticism throughout the country. By August, more than 55,000 judiciary workers went on an indefinite strike to protest. Judges and magistrates joined them in shutting down tribunals and courtrooms.

Critics worry that the election of judges by popular vote could make the judiciary vulnerable to corruption and subservient to the ruling party.

While the opposition vowed not to uphold the reform in Congress, general elections in June made the bill an impending reality given mass support from Morena, which secured an overwhelming majority in both chambers of Congress.

While the lower house could have fast-tracked the bill last week because Morena and its allies hold up to 73% of the seats in the legislature, the bill was three votes shy of passing in the Senate.

To pass, Morena needed two-thirds of the votes in the Senate, or 86 out of 128 senators, to support the initiative.

Initially, the ruling party had 83 votes. In recent weeks, however, Morena managed to manufacture the majority it needed by drawing three senators from opposition parties into their ranks.

Hours before the reform was approved, a senator from the rival PAN party, Miguel Angel Yunes Marquez, a politician linked to corruption scandals, announced he would support Morena and its bill, thus securing passage.