With the results of the June 2nd elections, Morena has a qualified majority in Congress to make changes to the Judiciary, the National Electoral Institute (INE), and energy matters.
With the majority of Morena’s deputies and senators, along with their allies—the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM) and the Labor Party (PT)—the ruling party can pass legal reforms that were previously stalled for analysis.
The constitutional reforms that the upcoming Morena legislators and their allies can approve are thanks to their virtual two-thirds qualified majority obtained in the June 2nd elections.
What are the pending reforms to be approved under Plan C?
During his morning press conference, the President announced that he will seek out the virtual election winner, Claudia Sheinbaum, to discuss Plan C, with the reform of the Judiciary being a priority.
In addition to foreseeing the election of magistrates, ministers, and judges by popular vote from candidates proposed by the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches, this project proposes the dissolution of the Federal Judiciary Council. In its place, an autonomous Judicial Discipline Tribunal, separate from the Supreme Court, would have the authority to receive complaints, investigate illicit conduct, and sanction judges.
The plan also stipulates that current Supreme Court, district magistrates, Judiciary Council members, and Electoral Tribunal magistrates will conclude their terms when the newly elected judges take office. These new judges will not receive remuneration exceeding that of the President of the Republic.
Another priority reform for López Obrador and Morena is electoral reform. The initiative sent to the Chamber of Deputies proposes replacing the National Electoral Institute (INE) with the National Institute of Elections and Consultations (INEC) as the sole authority in electoral matters. INEC would absorb the functions of local public electoral bodies.
The plan outlines the elimination of 200 proportional representation deputies and 32 senators, as well as 32 first minority senators in the federal entities. This would leave the Chamber of Deputies with only 300 legislators elected by relative majority and the Senate with 64 members elected under the same principle.
Additionally, the plan considers halving public funding for national political parties and regulating private contributions to these institutions. According to the proposed constitutional reforms, INEC councilors and Electoral Tribunal magistrates would be elected by popular vote, based on nominations from the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches.
Among the pending reforms, which have been stalled by opposition in Congress until now, is the project to revert the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) to its status as a public enterprise rather than a ‘productive state enterprise.’ It aims to give CFE precedence over private entities, prohibiting state contracts with private actors in the electricity sector.
AMLO will have a qualified majority to approve reforms.
According to the quick count released by the National Electoral Institute (INE) at midnight on Sunday, Morena, PVEM, and PT will have between 346 and 380 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, surpassing the minimum of 334 votes required to approve any constitutional reform. In the Senate of the Republic, they will hold between 76 and 88 seats, hovering around the 86 votes equivalent to two-thirds needed to implement the so-called Plan C.
If these numbers are confirmed in the official tally and withstand any potential challenges to district results, the new factions of the self-proclaimed fourth transformation will have a clear path to approve, without a single opposing vote, the package of 20 reform initiatives presented by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on February 5th. In this scenario, members of Morena, the Green Party, and the Labor Party anticipate discussing and voting on these projects in September—the last month of López Obrador’s term—once elected deputies and senators take their oaths of office.
Source: Telediario