By RICARDO CASTILLO

It only took only an hour and a half of half-hearted “debate” for the Mexican Senate to accept by a 111 vote majority the resignation of Supreme Court Judge Eduardo Medina Mora on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

The members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), who pushed Medina Mora’s candidacy for judge back in 2015, did not participate at all. Back then, the vacancy to be filled was that of Judge Sergio Valls, who had just passed away.

The members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), who pushed Medina Mora’s candidacy for judge back in 2015, did not participate at all.

On the contrary, nobody seemed to remember positive things about Medina Mora when he was proposed by former President Enrique Peña Nieto to fill up Valls’ vacant seat. At the time, Medina Mora was still serving as Mexico’s ambassador to the United States.

Senator Geovana Bañuelos of the leftist Labor Party recalled that, at the time, web platform www.change.org managed to garner 50,000 signatures protesting against Peña Nieto’s nominee. Weighing against him were his days as attorney general and top spy cop at the Center for Intelligence and National Security (Cisen) since he was the power behind the Federal Police.

“The brutal repression against the people of San Salvador Atenco,” who opposed then-President Vicente Fox’s land grab to build an airport there, “the violent eruption against the Lazaro Cárdenas smelting plant and the Fast and Furious operation were among the pending files against the man who in a few minutes will be a former judge,” said Bañuelos, forecasting the majority vote.

Previous to the vote, Medina Mora outright refused the invitation made by the Senate to come and explain his motives for resigning, which was made in a two-paragraph letter that had neither explanation or date.

There were three votes against his resignation, with the notorious PRI senators also voting for his separation from the Supreme Court.

Upon noticing this, National Regeneration Movement (Morena) majority party Senator Malú Micher made the sneer comment that “it is very good (to see) that those who supported him now turn their backs on him.” The most notorious no-vote was that of former Interior Secretary Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, now a senator for the state of Hidalgo.

With the resignation acceptance vote, the field is now wide open for Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) to propose three candidates he deems fit for the job. Should none of them be accepted by the Senate, then the president will have the venue open to make an appointment, which most observers are betting will be a woman.