The crisis inside the Upper room of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPJF) burst into 176 days of the presidential election of June 2, 2023since the intention of remove to Reyes Rodríguez Mondragón of the presidency of the body that qualifies the validity of the elections was formalized on Thursday request of judges Felipe Fuentes Barrera, Mónica Soto and Felipe de la Mata.
“I would request the incorporation of an item on the agenda related to the expression of the different positions of the magistrates of this Plenary regarding the relevance or not of you remaining in the presidency”asked the Judge Fuentes Barrera at the beginning of Thursday’s public session, which was left in suspense after he Magistrate Reyes Rodríguez requested a 15-minute recess and did not return to the session.
Why do they want the resignation of Reyes Rodríguez Mondragón?
The magistrates Felipe Fuentes Barrera, Mónica Soto and Felipe de la Mata you they demanded to resign by have lost confidence that they deposited in him when They elected him president on September 2, 2021.
The president asked for more time to think about his decision and said that On Monday, December 11, he would inform if he remains or retires of the presidency of the TEPJF, as he accused that they did not give him enough time to evaluate his position regarding application, which he revealed to the media they did it privately on December 6.
“I could not find a justification that would convince me to carry out or present that resignation at the moment”declared the president of the TEPJF in the session before leaving.
Two days before they privately demanded his resignationon December 4, the three magistrates gave the first sign that They no longer supported Reyes Mondragónwell They did not accompany him to render his report before the Plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) and they went to breakfast together; only the Judge Janine Otálora He decided to go with him to the accountability exercise before the highest court in the country.
The absence of the three magistrates was the first public display of the crisis inside the Court; However, for months there has been extortion accusations allegedly committed by Reyes Rodríguez against Judge Felipe de la Matawho was reported for sexual harassment by a collaborator of the president of the TEPJF.
The three magistrates continued yesterday’s session despite the absence of Reyes Rodríguez and Janine Otálorawho said in X that he left the session because “there were no conditions for dialogue,” and they accused him of fleeing.
Felipe de la Mata accused acts of harassment by Reyes Rodríguez to the general secretary of agreements of the Superior Chamber and a “strange intervention of some law firms in the life of the Court.”
Reyes Rodríguez rejected the accusations and discarded that the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is intervening in the Tribunal.
Can magistrates remove Reyes Rodríguez Mondragón?
Given the panorama, the question arises: Can three magistrates remove Reyes Rodríguez from the presidency of the TEPJF?
According to the Advisory Council for Open Electoral Justice, they can’t do it, since it ensures that no constitutional or legal norm contemplates the possibility of dismissing, removing or directly requesting the early resignation of the presidency.
However, there are history in the Electoral Court of removal of a presiding judge. The last of them was on August 4, 2021 when five judges, including Reyes Rodríguez himself, voted in favor of remove José Luis Vargas from the presidency because they also accused a loss of confidence, so the scenario could be repeated.
He Plenary session of the Superior Chamber is currently made up of five judgesgiven that two seats are vacantso if puts impeachment to a vote by Reyes Rodríguezwould be approved no problems because it would be three against two.
What is the Electoral Tribunal?
The Superior Chamber of the TEPJF is the last instance in the qualification of the elections, which hears and resolves those challenges that are filed for this reason, carries out the final calculation and formulates, in a definitive and unassailable manner, both the declaration of validity of the election as the declaration of the president-elect.
The presidency of the Superior Chamber is key, since whoever holds the position has a casting vote that could define electoral matters of great importance, that is, in the event of a tie in the vote on some issue, the vote of the presidency could tilt the decision.
The Electoral Tribunal will play a fundamental role in next year’s elections because 20,000 popularly elected positions will be at stake and the definition of some of them will be taken to the jurisdictional body that will have the final say.