Mexican Senators Give Supreme Court Chief Justice Two More Years

Mexican senators on Thursday voted for the extension of the Supreme Court chief justice's term for two more years. The move sparked criticism from lawmakers of the opposition, who dubbed it as a move to strengthen the ruling party's hold on the country's institutions.

Mexican Supreme Court head Arturo Zaldivar was appointed in January 2019. His term was supposed to end on Dec. 31, 2022. Zaldivar is known to be a supporter of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

According to Senate lawmakers, the proposal for Zaldivar's term extension was approved by a large majority, The Chronicle Herald reported.

Mexican President Backs Supreme Court Head's Term Extension

On Friday, Lopez Obrador expressed his support on the Senate's decision to give the Supreme Court head another two years in office. It was also highly criticized by the opposition.

According to Reuters, critics have expressed dismay over the Senate's decision, saying it could be a ploy to bring the Supreme Court to favor the President and his leftist MORENA party. Some also said that it could be a test of the possibility to extend presidential terms. Mexican presidents can only serve a single six-year term.

While the Senate and the President have already expressed their support, the Supreme Court head's term extension still needs to be approved by the lower house. Once approved, Arturo Zaldivar's term would be extended until Nov. 30, 2024.

When he was asked about the vote, Lopez Obrador noted that while he was the one who had sent the reform package to Congress, it was the Senate that takes up to extend Zaldivar's term, Today Online reported. The president added that if that meant the reform would pass, then he supported it.

In a statement, Emilio Alvarez, an independent senator, stated that MORENA was succumbing to the same abuses of power of the country's previous ruling parties. He named these parties as the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the center-right National Action Party (PAN).

Alvarez also dubbed the move as unconstitutional and argued that the proposed changes were submitted by MORENA at the last minute, giving lawmakers very little time to review them properly.

Critics continued to speculate that the Mexican president is seeking to extend his term despite his repeated claims that he will not do so. It can be recalled that back in May 2020, the Supreme Court has already struck down the law proposed to extend the term of the Baa California's governor.

Zaldivar, who Lopez Obrador made head of the Supreme Court, has yet to comment on his proposed term extension.

In a statement, the Federal Judiciary Board, whose president is Arturo Zaldivar, said it was not involved with the term extension proposal. The board added that it would wait for the outcome of the lower house vote before giving additional comments.

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