Ricardo Pascoe Pierce
The whip and the carrot have already been brought out in the destruction of the institutionality of the Mexican State. Morena offers the members of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) poison, short life, and hatred. To the Magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judiciary of the Federation (TEPJF), Morena offers love and a long life. What is behind this political movement presented by Morena, but which is, in reality, the last great play of López Obrador against the SCJN?
Morena’s proposal to the Congress of the Union forces the Justices of the SCJN to resign, suffering a reduction in their labor rights at the end of their term. On the other hand, Morena proposes that the Magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal have their tenure extended, with all their privileges intact.
The presidential bitterness is not only due to the fact that the SCJN justices refused to approve López Obrador’s unconstitutional and illegal laws and that the Electoral Tribunal magistrates have been condescending to the President. All of this is true. However, the circumstance poses an additional challenge.
Everything that López Obrador, Sheinbaum, and Morena propose to be approved in Congress in September—the famous Plan C—depends on a single resolution to be made by the TEPJF. Their decision on whether or not to approve Morena’s overrepresentation in Congress is crucial, as it will determine if Morena has the qualified majority to approve changes to the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States without the consensus or support of the opposition.
Without Morena’s overrepresentation in Congress, no changes to the Constitution would be possible, much less the reform/destruction of the Judicial Branch, at least in the terms proposed by López Obrador. The potential constitutional changes must be negotiated and agreed upon with the opposition.
The Magistrates of the TEPJF have a historic responsibility at this grand national crossroads. Their decision will define the direction Mexico will take for the next decades. Their decision will define whether Mexico will continue to be a liberal democracy with balanced and regulated competition among political forces, with the option of alternation. The other path before the Tribunal is the possibility of closing the way to future competitive political contests with the reduction of democratic spaces and the democratic limitation to freedom of organization and expression.
Over-representation can lead to an absolute distortion of forces in the country, unbalancing the construction of a country with debate, discussion, and adequate resolution of controversies. The idea that a 54% force can obtain 76% of the Congress is clearly a political, legal, and ethical aberration. Because it forces the other 46% of the country to be left with a meager 24% of the representation, in a short time, swear it, the representation will be 100% of a single force, as it happens today in the Venezuelan Assembly, where there is not a single legislator opposed to the regime. This possibility is absolutely within the parameters of reality. It is not an exaggeration.
The decision is in the hands of the TEPJF magistrates. Morena’s pampering of the Magistrates, extending their collective stay in the Tribunal, is a consequence of its knowing that the whole Plan C project depends on the approval of the overrepresentation.
It is unbelievable that things have come to this, but this is the reality. The five Magistrates have in their hands the definition of the country’s future. May they have the individual ethical strength to separate their legitimate personal and professional interests from the magnificent task of leading the country in a direction that is convenient for future generations.
Hopefully.
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