Lawmakers in Mexico approved controversial reforms yesterday that will make it the first country to allow voters to elect all judges, hours after protesters invaded the Senate to disrupt debate.Outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had pushed hard for the reform, criticising the current judicial system as serving the interests of the political and economic elite.The leftist leader hailed the bill’s approval, saying Mexico would be an “example to the world.”“It’s very important to end corruption and impunity. We will make great progress when it is the people of Mexico who freely elect the judges, the magistrates, the justices,” the 70-year-old told a news conference.The reform was approved with 86 votes in favour and 41 against in the early hours of the morning, garnering the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution, in an upper chamber dominated by the ruling Morena party and its allies. The reforms have sparked mass demonstrations, diplomatic tensions and investor jitters.Senate leader Gerardo Fernandez Norona had 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!”Lopez Obrador, who wanted the bill approved before close ally Claudia Sheinbaum replaces him on October 1, accused protesters of protecting the interests of the political elite.The reforms have the full support of Sheinbaum, who said yesterday they would strengthen the justice system.“The regime of corruption and privileges is becoming more and more a thing of the past,” she wrote on social media platform X.The plan, which had already cleared the lower house, must now be approved by 17 of 32 state congresses — considered a formality given the ruling coalition’s political dominance —before being signed into law by the president.
