PJF workers have been on strike since mid-August; they reject AMLO’s reform. (Cuartoscuro)
For approximately two weeks, workers, magistrates and judges of the Federal Judicial Branch (PJF) have been on an indefinite work stoppage in protest of the initiative that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador presented last February, which is currently being discussed in the Chamber of Deputies and is expected to be approved this Tuesday, September 3.
The Judicial Reform contemplates, among other points, the reduction of the members of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) from 11 to 9 and the elimination of its two chambers; the creation of a Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal; the substitution of the Federal Judicial Council (CJF); the figure of ‘faceless judges’ to protect those who handle drug trafficking and terrorism cases; and perhaps the most controversial, that judges, ministers and magistrates be elected by popular vote, as if they were governors or legislators.
The work stoppage, which Supreme Court workers will probably join after voting in favor of joining on Monday, is one of the many demonstrations of rejection of the initiative; students, alumni and law professors from renowned universities have carried out protests and demanded to be heard by the deputies; all of these expressions have been severely criticized by President López Obrador, who accuses the high command of the PJF of manipulating its workers and the professors of doing the same with young people.
Now, citizens on social media are calling for a national strike in support of the Federal Judicial Branch, in the context of the discussion and possible approval of the Executive’s proposal in both chambers.
“Nobody goes to work. Not a single young person in universities. Nobody shopping. Nobody on social media. Nobody using bank apps. Wednesday, September 4th. Strike,” reads an invitation that has already gone viral on X. Facebook and TikTok. “How can you help from your trenches: Don’t buy, don’t use electricity, don’t consume gasoline, don’t work, don’t go to school, don’t circulate, don’t go out. In defense of and against the reform of the Judicial Branch and overrepresentation,” says another image.
They call on social media for a national strike. (X @El_Caronte_ / X @BocattoTessa)
On February 5, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador presented his latest package of initiatives, among which the one regarding the Judiciary stands out, supported by the arguments that it is corrupt, that its high officials receive excessive salaries and benefits far superior to those of workers and that they do not respond to the interests of the people but to those of individuals, mainly political and economic.
The proposals were immediately sent to the Congress of the Union but could not be analyzed and therefore approved last semester because Morena and its allies, the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM) and the Labor Party (PT), did not have a majority in both chambers. However, the cards were turned around following the elections of June 2, when the cherry-colored party was crowned the big winner, taking not only the Presidency of the Republic, but also six governorships, Mexico City, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic.
On August 26, still under the previous legislature, the Judicial Reform ruling (already modified by the deputies) was analyzed and approved by the Constitutional Points Commission of the Chamber of Deputies but could no longer be discussed in the Plenary. This Sunday, September 1, the LXVI Legislature was officially installed and Morena, together with its allies, said that its analysis and approval was a priority, so they agreed that this Tuesday, September 3, the discussion would begin, despite the fact that two judges from Chiapas and Morelos ordered days ago the suspension of the debate and that, in case its approval went ahead, it could not be sent to the local congresses.
Today the Chamber of Deputies woke up surrounded and blocked by workers of the Judicial Branch of the Federation, so no one has been able to enter the legislative premises of San Lázaro. Given this situation, the session is being prepared in an alternate location, but everything seems to indicate that it will not be this Tuesday but later.
