MEXICO CITY (AP) — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is facing growing pressure over a controversial proposal to reform Mexico’s judiciary by electing judges.
Judges and magistrates on Wednesday joined a strike launched by federal court officials earlier this week in opposition to the proposal, while Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions warned that the reforms could pose serious market implications and risks for potential Mexican investors.
Responding to the growing criticism, President-elect Claudia Scheinbaum defended the proposal on Wednesday alongside Lopez Obrador, a political ally.
“Investors need not worry. If anything, Mexico’s judicial system is going to improve,” Sheinbaum said.
Populist leader Lopez Obrador, whose six-year term ends on September 30, has long been at odds with Mexico’s courts.
The president has said the proposal is aimed at rooting out corruption, claiming that judges are part of a “mafia” waged against him. The president has railed endlessly against the judicial system, ignoring court orders and publicly arguing with judges whose decisions he disagrees with.
Among the reforms Lopez Obrador is seeking are electing judges and allowing anyone with a law degree and several years of experience as a lawyer to become a judge through a national popular vote.
Following the landslide victory of Lopez Obrador’s Morena party in June’s elections, many academics have expressed concern that choosing judges by popular vote could lead to politically biased judges and undermine checks and balances.
Striking court workers also fear the move could put their careers at risk.
Thousands of officials have been camped outside the federal court building since Monday, and the rally grew on Wednesday when judges and magistrates joined in. Demonstrators gathered under tents, holding signs and chanting in protest that Mexicans who had appointments at the courthouse were being turned away.
“It could be damaging to society,” said striking federal judge Fernando Rangel Ramirez, who said the judiciary “is an institution that historically and by its nature should not be politicized. People with sufficient experience should be there.”
The National Association of Circuit Court Judges said the strike would continue indefinitely until the president’s “many flaws” proposal is blocked. The association said it wanted to “redirect the national debate toward thoughtful, comprehensive reforms that address the structural causes that have steadily weakened the quality of the judiciary” in Mexico.
The only federal courts that will not be affected by the strike are the Supreme Court and the Electoral Court, which will only handle cases deemed “urgent”, the group said.
The proposal must be approved by Mexico’s new Congress, which takes office on September 1 and where Morena and its allies hold a majority.
Morgan Stanley downgraded its investment recommendation on Mexico this week in response to the proposal.
“We believe that judicial reforms increase the risks to investing in Mexico,” the company said in a report released Tuesday night.
Those concerns were echoed by Citibanamex, which warned in a statement on Tuesday that markets were underestimating the “profound impact” of the proposal given the Morena party’s firm control over both the executive and legislative branches of government.
“The contours of the ruling, which are already becoming clear, could mean the abolition of a liberal democracy based on the rule of law, governed by a rotating majority through regular elections and a firmly balanced government,” a Citibanamex expert said.
The Mexican peso fell slightly again in morning currency trading on Wednesday following the criticism.
President Lopez Obrador has maintained a cynical tone even as pressure over his proposals grows.
“If judges are not working, at the very least they will not be able to release criminals from prison,” he said Wednesday.
Scheinbaum has been open to dialogue and has hosted discussion forums on the issue, but he questioned concerns about the plan and said Morgan Stanley and others may be “misinformed.”
“Their investment will be better protected,” she said.
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Associated Press writer Martin Silva Rey contributed to this report.
