The Real Trouble With Mexico’s Judicial Overhaul
Sunday’s judiciary election was a government power grab cynically disguised as an exercise in democracy. It won’t lead to a more just Mexico.
Don’t mind my power grab.
Photographer: Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP/Getty Images
This truth defies any sugarcoating: Every alarming article you may have read about the consequences of Mexico’s decision to elect its judiciary, in a vote that took place on Sunday, is essentially accurate. This was a capricious exercise designed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to radically change Mexico’s justice system after the courts ruled against the government in several instances of his mandate, which ended in September.
In the last months of his presidency, the septuagenarian leader known as AMLO channeled his inner tech bro and decided to move fast and break things — i.e, the judiciary: Half the country’s judges would be replaced, starting with the Supreme Court, and an oversight body would be created to make sure judges don’t deviate from their mandates. The remaining half will be changed in 2027. No real effort was made for a serious, well-thought reform to tackle the undeniable shortcomings of a judicial system that wasn’t particularly helpful to Mexicans; everything would have to be done at maximum speed, no questions asked please.