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(Bloomberg) — Mexico’s proposed overhaul of the judicial system will ensure courts work for the benefit of Mexico’s people and not for organized crime, outgoing president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a speech Sunday in Mexico City.
The reform, which proposes that Mexico’s judges be elected rather than appointed, will ensure that the court system “dispenses justice for the benefit of all, and that courts are not at the service of organized crime or white collar criminals,” AMLO said to thousands of supporters in front of Mexico’s presidential palace. “They will be at the service of the people.”
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In the nearly two-hour state of the union speech, AMLO, as the president is known, also touted his administration’s accomplishments on crime reduction, immigration, energy and infrastructure projects and poverty reduction during his six-year term that ends this month.
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum is expected to continue pursuing many of AMLO’s constitutional reform proposals after she takes office Oct. 1.
A key congressional committee last week approved AMLO’s plan to overhaul the Mexican judicial system, paving the way for Congress to consider the controversial proposal that opponents say will put democracy at risk.
The plan is a priority for the president, who has characterized it as a way to root out judicial corruption, and he wants to secure its approval before leaving office. The plan has drawn backlash from judges, the Mexican opposition, investors and the US, who all say it will undermine judicial independence and erode checks on the ruling Morena party’s power.
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