Politics: Constitutional reforms pose a direct threat to democratic governance
Barely two months into Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, it is clear that Morena and its coalition partners are determined to move full speed ahead with the 4T's proposed constitutional reforms, actively backed by the new president. Taken as a whole, the 20 reforms proposed by AMLO (18 constitutional amendments and two legal reforms) represent a major sea change in the Mexican political system and pose a direct threat to democratic governance.
On a political level, they will radically modify the system to increase and concentrate greater power in the executive branch. Changes such as eliminating proportional representation in Congress and undercutting the autonomy of the electoral authorities will pave the way for continued Morena domination. This will be strengthened by the decision to constitutionally enshrine the government's social programs, thereby solidifying Morena’s social base, which depends on such cash transfers.
The most controversial proposals are the Judicial Reform, centered on the popular election of justices, judges and magistrates, which, in practice, can be expected to severely weaken the autonomy and objectivity of the judicial branch; the elimination of the autonomous watchdog agencies, with their powers transferred to the executive branch or government ministries; and new provisions in the Constitution preventing future changes to the country’s Magna Carta from being challenged and potentially nullified in court, including in the Supreme Court. Together these reforms can be expected to undermine the division of powers and checks and balances and therefore weaken the rule of law. Concerns are also being raised about democratic rights in the context of a concentration of power in the presidency.
Underpinning these changes is Morena and Sheinbaum’s crusade to wipe out what they consider to be the vestiges of the “neo-liberal past”. Their open disdain for court rulings which with they disagree and their rejection of engaging in dialogue with other political forces before reaching major decisions, together with the constitutional changes already adopted or in the hopper, clearly bode poorly for the future of Mexican democracy.
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