Constitutional Change Could Follow Energy Reform Suspensions

A second judge has just ordered the suspension of President López Obrador’s energy bill. This came after a previous suspension from judge Juan Pablo Gómez. Following these suspensions, the president said that if his initiative is considered unconstitutional by magistrates and judges, he would then send an initiative to Congress to reform the Constitution.

Judge Rodrigo de la Peza López Figueroa, First District Judge in Management and an economic, radio and telecommunications specialist, granted the second suspension against the energy bill. After the first suspension, López Obrador filed a complaint against judge Juan Pablo Gómez and  thanked the Chief of the Supreme Court of Justice, Arturo Zaldívar, for answering the complaints and starting the investigation against the judge in question. López Obrador said that judges are not untouchable and that he will continue to report “atypical” situations, particularly the ones related to big businesses. “This complaint is in the hands of the judiciary counselors. Back in the day, neither a judge, magistrate nor a minister would ever get punished. Judges today cannot be untouchable; that is over,” said López Obrador, according to La Jornada.

After this second suspension, President López Obrador is now considering a constitutional reform if his energy bill continues to face legal suspensions. During Wednesday’s morning briefing, the president said that he was sure that the legislation was not unconstitutional. However, if the Supreme Court insisted that the energy bill was unconstitutional, he would then send an initiative to reform the Constitution to fight the corruption he sees in the privatization of the energy sector. “I have no doubt that there were some irregularities in the oil and electricity industries. They would say they were running a business, when in reality they were stealing; good for them and bad for us,” the president said during his briefing.

Some companies are looking to dialog with the government, López Obrador stated. However, he still sees issues with the electricity tariffs to which large corporations abide. “Thanks to the previous skewed law, corporations would pay less than what a typical middle-class family would pay for their electricity bill. Meanwhile, a small local grocery store would pay five times more than what a commercial chain would pay”, stated the president, La Jornada.

There are still major inconsistencies with the president´s energy bill beyond its debated unconstitutionality, that could lead to more suspensions. According to Inmobiliare, the bill goes against the 2030 sustainable development act from the UN and USMCA, as well as international treaties like the Paris Agreement, reported MBN.