MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday criticized the country’s judiciary as “rotten,” one day after the Supreme Court invalidated part of a set of electoral reforms he had championed.
The Supreme Court on Monday voted 9-2 to strike down a measure curbing elections authority INE’s ability to police political communications.
A separate part of the reform, which slashes the INE’s budget and staffing, is still awaiting court evaluation.
“The court justices, who serve a rapacious minority dedicated to plundering the country, dare to cancel the law,” Lopez Obrador proclaimed in his daily press conference.
Lawmakers had passed the election reform – known as “Plan B” after an earlier version failed to muster enough votes – in February. Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday that a “Plan C” was now in the works.
Critics of the elections overhaul have warned it will weaken democracy in a country set to hold presidential elections next year.
The INE has played an important role in Mexico’s move to multi-party democracy after coming out from decades of one-party rule in 2000.
Lopez Obrador has frequently attacked the agency, saying it allowed voter fraud to rob him of the 2006 and 2012 presidential elections. He has also squared off with Supreme Court justices, arguing they do not represent the people in the way lawmakers do.
“There is no remedy for the judiciary, it is rotten,” he said Tuesday.
(Reporting by Raul Cortes; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Leslie Adler)
