(Bloomberg) -- Mexican judicial elections would start in 2025 under a reform plan lawmakers from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s governing coalition submitted to congress Friday, officially kicking off the effort to approve the controversial overhaul.
The reform proposal filed to the congressional constitutional committee includes more than 100 changes to the original draft after a series of public meetings to discuss the plan, Ignacio Mier, the leader of Lopez Obrador’s Morena party in the lower house, said in a press conference.
But the proposal maintains the president’s core objective: The election of all judges, including Supreme Court justices, by popular vote, a change the opposition has said will undermine judicial independence and Mexican democracy.
AMLO, as the president is known, has pushed for the speedy approval of the reform, seeking to take advantage of the lower house supermajority his coalition won in June 2 elections to complete it before the end of his term on Sept. 30. The effort irked markets in the wake of the vote, causing the peso to tumble amid fears that the reform would erode checks on the ruling party.
Under the plan, Mexicans could elect about half of the nation’s judges, including Supreme Court justices, in a 2025 vote, Mier said. The other half would be chosen in a second election planned for 2027.
Mier said that several technical committees will ensure that legal criteria for the suitability of judge candidates are respected throughout the country.
“This guarantees legal certainty and a justice system that guarantees the people of Mexico access to justice,” he said.
Morena lawmaker Juan Ramiro Robledo Ruiz, who leads the lower house’s constitutional committee, said it will have a decision on the reform proposal within 10 days, and that all current judges will be able to compete in elections.
Because it is a constitutional change, the reform requires approval by two-thirds majorities in both the lower house and Senate after it clears the committee. AMLO’s coalition fell just three seats shy of winning a Senate supermajority in this year’s vote.
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