Protesters against judiciary overhaul plan urge Mexican president to 'respect democracy'
Protesters have marched across Mexico in the latest opposition to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s proposed judicial overhaul and other moves by the governing party that critics say will weaken democratic checks and balances
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Protestors took to the streets across Mexico on Sunday in the latest opposition to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's proposed judicial overhaul and other moves by the governing party that critics say will weaken democratic checks and balances.
Demonstrators rallied in Mexico City as well as in Michoacan, Puebla, Leon, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Veracruz and other states to voice worries about changing the judiciary, particularly making judgeships subject to election. Many protesters are also upset by a proposal to do away with independent regulatory agencies.
In the capital, throngs of people, many of them federal court workers and judges on strike, ended their march outside the Supreme Court building in the heart of the city, waving flags reading “Judicial independence” and “Respect democracy."
“Right now, we're protesting the reforms, but it's not just the reforms,” said lawyer Mauricio Espinosa. “It's all of these attacks against the judicial branch and other autonomous bodies. What it does is end up strengthening the executive, the next president.”
