There was a huge uproar in Mexico over the bill of ‘election of judges by voting’, thousands of people entered the Senate and vandalized it

Mexico has become the first country in the world where judges will now be elected through public voting. The proposal related to this was passed in the Parliament amidst strong opposition from the people. In such a situation, now people will be able to elect judges at all levels by casting their votes. But this decision of the government has now become a noose around their neck.

This proposal, presented in the parliament by Mexico’s ruling Morena party, got 86 votes in favour and 41 votes against, after which the proposal was passed. People have come out on the streets and are protesting against this proposal. A large number of them are from law students to court employees.

What is this bill?

Under this bill passed by the Mexican Senate, judges of all courts from the Supreme Court to the local level will be elected by public voting. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador played a major role in getting this bill passed. He wanted to get it passed during his tenure. Because he believes that the current judicial system of the country serves the interests of a particular elite class.

Lopez’s presidential term is going to end on September 30. In such a situation, it is being said that he had hastily decided to get this bill passed from the Parliament during his tenure itself.

After getting approval of this proposal, now the ruling government is going to amend the constitution, which will pave the way for the election of the judiciary. Now more than 6500 judges and magistrates of the country will be elected by direct votes of the people. Also, the mandatory 10 years of experience to become a judge or magistrate will be reduced to five. This is the reason why people are out on the streets in protest against it.

When the crowd entered the parliament in protest against the proposal

A day before this proposal was presented in the Senate, a crowd of protesters entered the Parliament. Thousands of protesters entered the Mexican Parliament on Tuesday and tried to stop it from being passed. During this, the protesters also vandalized the Parliament building, due to which the MPs took refuge in a nearby building in fear. During this, the protesters raised slogans of ‘The judiciary will not fall’. Opposition party leaders and judicial activists also joined in this. Later, the proceedings of the Parliament were started amid heavy police security.

But on Wednesday, the ruling Morena party secured the two-thirds majority required to pass this proposal. Mexico’s newly elected Claudia Senbom will take over as President on October 1. Claudia fully supports this plan of the Morena party. Not only this, Mexico’s opposition party leader Miguel Angel Yunus has also announced to support this move, after which the opposition party has declared its own leader a traitor.

Why did President Obrador advocate for this bill?

President Obrador clashed with the Supreme Court on several occasions during his tenure. During his six-year tenure, the court blocked some of the changes he proposed in the energy and security sectors.

The US has also expressed concern over this resolution passed by the Mexican Senate and called it a threat to democracy. The US says that this decision will destroy the structure of the judiciary in the country. Corruption will be encouraged and justice will end.