Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, generally known as AMLO, has criticised the US for latest feedback that framed his proposed judicial overhaul as a “threat” to Mexico’s democracy.
In a morning press convention on Friday, Lopez Obrador described the criticism as “disrespectful” to Mexico’s “nationwide sovereignty”.
“I hope this won’t occur once more,” he stated.
The Mexican authorities additionally introduced it might ship a diplomatic word that claims the US feedback “signify an unacceptable interference, a violation of Mexico’s sovereignty”.
The federal government’s response got here a day after US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar warned the proposed judicial modifications — which embody placing judges up for election — might threaten “the historic industrial relationship” between the 2 nations.
“Democracies can’t perform with out a sturdy, impartial and non-corrupt judicial department,” Salazar informed reporters.
He added that the proposed overhaul would “assist cartels and different dangerous actors make the most of inexperienced judges with political motivations” and “create turbulence” — each economically and politically — for years to come back.
Salazar stated on Friday that his feedback, poorly acquired in a rustic the place the US has a protracted historical past of interference in home affairs, had been made within the “spirit of collaboration”.
“I’m most prepared to have interaction in dialogue with Mexico’s management on the direct election of judges and alternate views on completely different fashions,” the US ambassador stated in a social media put up explaining his place.
Lopez Obrador, a populist president usually criticised for attacking impartial regulatory businesses, has lengthy been at odds with Mexico’s judicial department.
He contends judges are a part of a “mafia” that opposes him. He has framed his judicial overhaul as a way of cleansing up corruption within the courts.
Beneath his plan, the manager, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government might nominate nearly anybody with a regulation diploma to function a decide.
These people would then be vetted by particular committees created by every department to make sure they’ve the credentials wanted to serve. Lastly, the candidates could be put to a well-liked vote.
The judicial overhaul has but to be authorised: The nation’s newly elected Congress will take workplace on September 1.
However Lopez Obrador is pushing the proposal as one of many remaining main targets of his presidency, which is restricted to at least one six-year time period. He’s set to depart workplace on September 30, along with his hand-picked successor, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, being inaugurated the next day.
Sheinbaum has defended the proposal, and the coalition led by Lopez Obrador’s Morena social gathering holds a supermajority within the decrease chamber of Congress.
A constitutional change is required for the judicial plan to be enacted, and that requires a two-thirds majority in each chambers.
However critics concern the modifications are an try by Lopez Obrador to weaken the independence of the judiciary.
This week, federal courtroom employees, judges and lecturers have gone on strike in protest of the judicial reforms, which they are saying would pave the way in which to stack courts with politically biased judges.
Additionally they warned the judicial overhaul might hand the Morena social gathering management of all three branches of presidency and deal a blow to checks and balances.
Julio Rios Figueroa, a regulation professor on the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) in Mexico Metropolis, told Al Jazeera reporter Joseph Stepansky earlier this week that the reforms might even destabilise the justice system.
Las preocupaciones que expresé sobre la elección directa de jueces son en espíritu de colaboración. Como socios, buscamos un diálogo honesto y abierto para seguir con el gran progreso democrático y económico que hemos alcanzado (Abro hilo 1/3).
— Embajador Ken Salazar (@USAmbMex) August 23, 2024
“It would create administrative chaos and uncertainty in lots of areas,” Rios Figueroa stated. “It would additionally finish judicial independence and judicial autonomy in Mexico.”
Salazar, the US ambassador, voiced comparable considerations on Thursday, although he acknowledged the necessity to handle corruption within the Mexican authorities.
“The direct election of judges represents a threat for the functioning of Mexico’s democracy, and the combination of the American, Mexican and Canadian economies,” he stated on Thursday.
Canada’s Ambassador to Mexico Graeme Clark additionally criticised the judicial reform at an occasion on Thursday.
“My traders are involved. They need stability. They need a judicial system that works if there are issues,” he stated.
Clark, nonetheless, stipulated that the Canadian authorities and that of Mexico have “wonderful relations” and he was solely transmitting traders’ considerations.
