AMLO has taken direct aim at foreign firms, saying that the current judicial system defended “foreign companies that come to loot, rob and affect the economy of the Mexican people.” Credits: ObturadorMX/GettyImages

Protesters stormed into the Mexican Senate while it was deliberating on the ruling party’s controversial plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary. It forced the Senate to take a recess in order to protect the senators’ safety.  

The country’s outgoing president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, commonly known as AMLO, has been the face of the judicial reform, which would see all of the country’s judges elected by popular vote. The proposal has come under heavy scrutiny, as critics say it would open the door for criminal influence in the judiciary as well as erode democratic principles in Mexico.  

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The protesters, some of whom pushed through the Senate door with pipes and chains, broke in hours after the ruling party, Morena, managed to wrangle one vote from the opposition.  

The plan passed through the lower chamber of Congress last week and was passed onto the Senate. AMLO needed one more vote from the opposition (he already had two) in order to form a supermajority and pass the reform.  

Morena acquired this remaining vote from a senator from the conservative National Action Plan (PAN), whose party vehemently opposes the reform.  

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PAN Senator Miguel Ángel Yunes Márquez announced on Tuesday that he would take leave over health issues and be replaced by his father. His father, the former governor of Veracruz, Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares quickly stepped in and said he would vote in favour of the reform.

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The national head of PAN said it was “evident” that there was an “impunity pact,” given that the government issued an arrest warrant in July for Sen. Yunes Marquez for alleged falsification of documents and fraud related to his candidacy. Yunes had called it political persecution by Morena, the party his father, the former governor, now seems to support.  

The country’s president-elect and AMLO’s protégé, Claudia Scheinbaum, has been meeting with foreign investors, international organizations and business leaders to reassure them of the country’s political stability.  

Investors have heeded multiple warnings that the reform could damage Mexico’s economy and business relations. This worry has been echoed by the American and Canadian ambassadors to Mexico.