**Adán Denies Allegations of Vote Buying, Court Orders Halt on Judiciary Reform Discussion in Senate**
**Tijuana, September 6, 2024** – Adán Augusto López Hernández, leader of the Morena parliamentary group in the Senate, recently refuted claims that the coalition government, including the Green Ecologist Party (PVEM) and the Labor Party (PT), attempted to buy or coerce opposition lawmakers’ votes to secure the majority needed to pass the Federal Judiciary reform.
López Hernández, who served as the Secretary of the Interior from August 26, 2021, to June 16, 2023, under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration, acknowledged that the two Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) senators from Michoacán and Tabasco, Araceli Saucedo Reyes and José Sabino Herrera Dagdug, who joined their parliamentary group, were rewarded with committee chairmanships in the Senate as a “thank you.”
“This is false; no one is offering anything to anyone. We’ve never done that. The only strategy is persuasion. The two senators who joined us were given committee presidencies as a token of appreciation,’’ López Hernández assured during an interview.
Outside the transition house of Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the national president-elect, López Hernández, who also chairs the Senate’s Coordination Political Board (JUCOPO), denied any truth behind accusations of vote buying among opposition lawmakers, asserting that discussions aimed only to highlight the reform’s merits.
“I’ve spoken with a few legislators from the PRI trying to convey the historical significance of the judicial reform. We believe in good faith politics and aim to be convincing,” said López Hernández.
Meanwhile, Rafael Alejandro Moreno Cárdenas, leader of the PRI’s National Executive Committee (CEN), accused the government of exerting unprecedented pressure, including threats and offers of “millions of pesos” to switch to Morena or abstain from voting on the judiciary reform.
“There have been brutal pressures and threats directed at our lawmakers. Offers of millions of pesos to join the Morena group or avoid voting are unacceptable. But the PRI stands firm in defense of democracy and institutions,” Moreno stated.
He emphasized a definitive suspension imposed by Martha Eugenia Magaña López, judge of the Fifth District Court of Morelos, to halt the discussion of the approved bill, adding that the 15 members of the PRI senatorial bloc remain committed to voting against the judiciary reform.
On September 5, Judge Francisco Javier García Contreras of the Second District Court in Colima granted the first provisional suspension—filed by human rights advocacy group Fundación Iris—against the judiciary reform initiative discussion in the Senate and its subsequent approval by state legislatures.
With this ruling, the total count came to four suspensions against the judicial reform, including those by Judge Magaña López from Morelos and Judge Felipe Consuelo Soto from Chiapas.
*Secondary Article: Senate Leader Stands Firm Amidst Reform Controversy*
Concerns over potential vote buying for the judicial reform bill have mounted as opposition parties, including PRI and PAN, rally against the government’s alleged tactics. PRI and PAN leaders have confirmed discussions with some of their members alluding to threats and coercive offers from government allies aiming to sway or dilute their votes.
María Guadalupe Murguía Gutiérrez, coordinator of PAN in the Senate, shared that senators from various opposition parties, including the PRI and MC, reported attempts at coercion by government factions. Despite these pressures, the opposition remains resolute, gearing up for a unified stand against the reform.
As debate intensifies, Senate and opposition party leaders have echoed calls for unity and resistance against what they describe as coercive maneuvers that, according to them, threaten the democratic fabric of the country.
Stay tuned to TJGringo.com for more updates on this unfolding story.