Welcome back to World Brief, where we are looking Mexicoof judicial reform efforts, a major Ukrainian Cabinet reshuffle, and hosting Beijing China-Africa summit
Welcome back to World Brief, where we are looking Mexicoof judicial reform efforts, a major Ukrainian Cabinet reshuffle, and hosting Beijing China-Africa summit
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Reform of the Courts
The lower house of Congress in Mexico Pass On Wednesday a controversial judicial reform law that would require the country’s entire judiciary—about 7,000 judges—to be chosen by popular vote. The marathon voting session lasted over 12 hours and ended with 359 votes in favor and 135 against. Voting took place in a nearby gymnasium after protesters blocked the entrance to Mexico’s congressional building.
under Improvement dealAll judges will stand for election, which President Andrés Manuel López Obrador argues will make the courts more accountable to Mexican voters. Supreme Court justices are currently nominated by the president and confirmed by senators. The legislation would reduce the number of Supreme Court justices from 11 to nine; cut their term limits from 15 to 12 years; Remove the minimum age requirement, which was 35 years; and reducing the amount of prior experience required from 10 to five years.
López Obrador has long been critical of Mexico’s Supreme Court, particularly after it blocked his proposed policy changes. He has repeatedly accused the judiciary of being corrupt and inefficient rushed to pass Act before his term expires on September 30. President-elect Claudia Schönbaum, a close ally of López Obrador, has pledged to support the reform deal.
Yet critics say the new policies could leave judges vulnerable to influence from powerful local figures, including members. organized crimeAnd they could allow López Obrador’s Morena party to take control of all three branches of government, and close to Mexico. One party rule. “The purpose of this amendment is to remove once and for all all the checks and balances that limit the concentration of power,” said opposition lawmaker Claudia Ruiz Maciu Salinas. Those against the reform law also argue that it does not address other major problems in the courts, such as impunity and chronic underfunding.
Protests against Lopez Obrador’s reform efforts have erupted across the country, with Supreme Court justices the latest to join the labor strike. “We must inaugurate a wall of shame that says ‘Today begins the downfall of our republic.’ And it should be the date and all the faces of Morena congressman,” said legislator Paulina Rubio Fernandez. Mexico’s peso fell 0.4 percent against the US dollar on Wednesday amid the effects of the vote.
The proposed law has also raised regional concerns. Ken Salazar, US Ambassador to Mexico warned Last month that “popular direct election of judges is a major threat to the functioning of Mexico’s democracy.” Canadian Ambassador to Mexico Graeme Clarke echoed the sentiment, saying Canadian investors are also concerned. In response, López Obrador “suspended” relations with the US and Canadian embassies.
“They have to learn to respect Mexico’s sovereignty,” he said, although Sheinbaum later clarified that formal diplomatic and trade relations would not be affected.
The proposed deal must now go to the Senate, where it belongs Expected to pass. López Obrador’s Morena party is just one vote shy of the required two-thirds majority in the Senate. That vote could take place as early as Thursday. The law must also be approved by Mexico’s 32 state congresses, where More’s party holds a majority. A landslide general election in June.
Today’s most read
What we are following
Cabinet shake-up. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba submit His resignation on Wednesday comes ahead of an expected major cabinet reshuffle. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced last week that he plans to shake up his administration to find “new energy” to defeat Moscow in the Russia-Ukraine war, which has now lasted more than two years.
On Tuesday, Strategic Industry Minister Oleksandr Kamishin; Justice Minister Denis Maliuska; Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk, who oversaw efforts to reunify Russian-occupied territories; and Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanyshina, who focused on Ukraine’s relations with Europe submit His resignation. Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets and head of the State Property Fund Vitaly Koval have also resigned, in Kiev’s biggest cabinet reshuffle since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Kuleba’s resignation announcement comes on the same day as a Russian drone and missile attack were killed Seven people in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, near Ukraine’s border with Poland. Emergency services said 53 people, including seven children, were injured in the attack. In the past 24 hours, Russian forces have also targeted energy and other critical infrastructure in nine regions, local officials reported on Wednesday.
Fire in London Grenfell Tower. British authorities published The findings of a six-year public inquiry into the London Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, which killed 72 people, on Wednesday. “The simple truth is that all the deaths that occurred were avoidable,” said inquiry chair Martin Moore-Beek. The report cited “decades of failure” by the government and the construction industry and blamed the companies responsible for fitting and maintaining the 24-storey building’s flammable cladding.
Moore-Bick emphasized that while not all parties involved bear equal weight of responsibility, many of them do showed Some degree of incompetence, dishonesty and greed. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologized to the victims and their loved ones on Wednesday for the country’s failures. Prosecutors are now expected to begin charging those responsible, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan suggesting authorities have banned companies involved in the fire from receiving public contracts.
China-Africa Summit. Dozens of African leaders summoned in Beijing on Wednesday for the 2024 summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum. Meanwhile A three-day eventChinese President Xi Jinping will meet with African heads of state and government to discuss China’s Belt and Road Initiative, tech and energy investment, complex minerals and Africa’s role in the United Nations. Eswatini will be the only African country to be absent, as it has no formal ties with China and instead recognizes Taiwan.
“China will never waver in its determination to pursue greater unity and cooperation with Africa,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Xi hopes to increase China’s influence on the African continent and help counter US and European interests there. Beijing is Africa’s largest trading partner as well as its largest creditor, and Chinese officials have speculated that bilateral trade could reach a settlement. $300 billion By 2035. “The more complicated the international situation becomes, the more the countries of the Global South must maintain independence,” Xi told the South African president. Cyril Ramaphosa On Monday, the two announced a new deal to rebalance trade and improve jobs for South Africans.
odds and ends
It may be September, but it’s starting to look a lot like Christmas in Venezuela. President Nicolás Maduro announced Monday that Jingle Bells and Santa’s Elves holiday will be held on October 1 instead of December 25. The new schedule appears to be a way for Maduro to distract from the government’s crackdown on the opposition, who has retained opposition leader Edmundo. Gonzalez duly won the country’s July Presidential election.
Post Mexico clears first hurdle to pass judicial reform deal appeared first foreign policy.