Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has criticized the United States for recent comments that framed his proposed judicial overhaul as a “risk” to Mexico’s democracy.
In a morning press conference on Friday, Lopez Obrador described the criticism as “disrespectful” to Mexico’s “national sovereignty”.
“I hope this will not happen again,” he said.
The Mexican government also announced it would send a diplomatic note that says the US comments “represent an unacceptable interference, a violation of Mexico’s sovereignty”.
The government’s response came a day after US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar warned the proposed judicial changes — which include putting judges up for election — could threaten “the historic commercial relationship” between the two countries.
“Democracies can’t function without a strong, independent and non-corrupt judicial branch,” Salazar told reporters.
He added that the proposed overhaul would “help cartels and other bad actors take advantage of inexperienced judges with political motivations” and “create turbulence” — both economically and politically — for years to come.
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Lopez Obrador, a populist president often criticized for attacking independent regulatory agencies, has long been at odds with Mexico’s judicial branch.
He contends judges are part of a “mafia” that opposes him. He has framed his judicial overhaul as a means of cleaning up corruption in the courts.
Under his plan, the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government could nominate virtually anyone with a law degree to serve as a judge.
Those individuals would then be vetted by special committees created by each branch to ensure they have the credentials needed to serve. Finally, the candidates would be put to a popular vote.
The judicial overhaul has yet to be approved: The country’s newly elected Congress will take office on September 1.
But Lopez Obrador is pushing the proposal as one of the final major goals of his presidency, which is limited to one six-year term. He is set to leave office on September 30, with his hand-picked successor, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, being inaugurated the following day.
Sheinbaum has defended the proposal, and the coalition led by Lopez Obrador’s Morena party holds a supermajority in the lower chamber of Congress.
A constitutional change is required for the judicial plan to be enacted, and that requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
Credible News.ng
