Mexico on Tuesday became the world’s first country to allow voters to elect judges at all levels after protesters invaded the upper house and suspended debate on the issue.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had pushed hard for the reform and criticized the judicial system for serving the interests of the political and economic elite.
The reform was approved with 86 votes in favor and 41 against, garnering the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution.
Photo: AP
Debate on the reform had sparked mass demonstrations, diplomatic tensions and investor jitters.
Mexican Senate President Gerardo Fernandez Norona declared a recess after demonstrators stormed the upper house and entered the chamber, chanting: “The judiciary will not fall.”
Lawmakers were forced to move to a former senate building, where they resumed their debate as demonstrators outside shouted: “Mr senator, stop the dictator.”
Obrador, who wanted the bill approved before he is replaced by Claudia Sheinbaum on Oct. 1, said that protesters were protecting the interests of the political elite.
“What most worries those who are against this reform is that they will lose their privileges, because the judiciary is at the service of the powerful, at the service of white-collar crime,” he told a news conference.
Opponents, including court employees and law students, have held a series of protests against the plan, under which even judges at the Mexican Supreme Court and other high-level judges, as well as those at the local level, would be chosen by popular vote.
About 1,600 judges would have to stand for election next year or 2027.
“This does not exist in any other country,” said Margaret Satterthwaite, UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. “In some countries, such as the US, some state judges are elected, and in others, such as in Bolivia, high-level judges are elected.”
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