Amid controversy, Mexico elects a woman to head the Supreme Court for the first time

The plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) of Mexico elected this Monday, with closed voting and a controversial process, Minister Norma Piña as the new president for the period 2022-2026. She thus becomes the first woman to preside over this body.

In a solemn and public session, which began shortly after 12 local time at the headquarters of the country’s highest court, the other ministers elected Piña with six votes out of 11 as the new head of the SCJN, after five candidates had presented themselves.

Piña, a minister since 2015 proposed by former president Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018), was elected after a controversial process for the candidacy of Yasmín Esquivel, a minister close to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador accused of plagiarizing her thesis.

The election consisted of three rounds of voting and in the end Piña won by 6 votes to 5 over the other finalist, Minister Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena.

reach an inaccessible place

Piña delivered her first speech in the new position, in which she stressed the importance of a woman presiding over this body of justice for the first time, as she felt an “inaccessible glass ceiling” had been broken.

“As the first woman to preside over this supreme court, I also represent women. On our behalf, I thank my colleagues for their consistency, I recognize the extremely important determination of the majority of this full court to break what seemed an inaccessible glass ceiling ,” he said.

She said she felt accompanied, supported, shared by all women and thanked those who have always believed in us, those who have never tired of trying the changes that little by little put our patriarchal culture to the test.

At the same time, she promised to work “for a fairer, more egalitarian society, free from violence against women. This is a wish, there is no doubt about it”.

Piña is a graduate of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Since 2015 you have been appointed judge of the Supreme Court, where until now you have been minister of the First Chamber.

discussions

The election of Minister Piña was surrounded by the controversy that broke out days ago around the candidate Yasmín Esquivel, nominated by López Obrador in 2019 amid controversy for being wife of an entrepreneur close to the government and now accused of plagiarizing her dissertation.

On December 21, it was revealed in the media that the thesis of the Mexican Supreme Court minister, out of the Faculty of Higher Studies of Aragon, was similar to that of the UNAM Faculty of Law graduate José Báez, at the same university.

However, the minister denied the allegations. For several days, he even presented alleged evidence based on letters from his thesis advisors and denounced that his work had been plagiarized, despite the fact that his thesis was submitted in 1986 and Báez’s in 1985.

“Today with all tranquility and not only with sayings, but on the basis of the resolution of an authority, it is confirmed that the professional thesis that I presented to obtain my degree is my authorship and the subject was conceived while studying and working of confidence in the public service, he said in a statement ahead of the vote.

Esquivel stated that there were those who “for economic, leadership or political reasons, wanted to weaken this Court” and added: “I have not lent myself nor will I lend myself to it”.

Despite the controversy, which also led UNAM to carry out investigations in which it “recognized” similarities between the two works, Esquivel refused to give up his candidacy. However, the minister lost his options in the second round of voting in which he got just one vote.

Piña will succeed Arturo Zaldívar, a minister accused of being too close to President López Obrador, who had proposed a legal reform to extend his mandate before the SCJN.

Faced with questions, López Obrador assured in his morning conference that the election to the Supreme Court is “independent” and “free”, but accused the judiciary of being kidnapped by interests.

Source: EFE

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