Protesters flood Mexico’s Senate during controversial judicial reform debate

The sweeping constitutional reform under consideration would see Mexicans elect judges at all levels of government by popular vote.

Mexican lawmakers were forced to suspend debate on a controversial judicial reform after protesters broke down the doors of the Senate building and forced their way into the upper house’s session hall. A vote on the sweeping constitutional reform – which would see Mexicans elect judges at all levels of government by popular vote – was expected to occur after the debate. But as the crowd broke into the upper house on Tuesday, Senate President Gerardo Fernandez Noroña asked his colleagues to evacuate the hall to avoid confrontations with the protesters. Dramatic footage of the secene showed protesters banging on the doors of the chamber while others waved the Mexico flag from a gallery above the floor of the Senate. Some lawmakers were seen cheering on the demonstrators. The sweeping constitutional reform is championed by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has long been critical of his country’s Supreme Court after it stood in the way of some of his signature policy proposals. The overhaul, once passed, would see Mexicans select judges at all levels of government through elections, a procedure that legal experts say would turn Mexico into an international outlier. The reform sailed through the lower chamber of Congress last week, but López Obrador ruling coalition needs a supermajority to approve it in the upper house.