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February 11, 2019

López Obrador clashes with courts after vowing 'poverty' for Mexican government

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wants to cut salaries for all government workers in Mexico, including himself.

It鈥檚 rare for presidents to advocate for poverty, but that鈥檚 just what is doing.

At a press conference on Feb. 1, L贸pez Obrador said his government would embrace what he called 鈥溾�� if it would 鈥渢ransfer funds to the people鈥� and achieve 鈥渄evelopment, jobs and welfare.鈥�

Francis of Assisi was a Catholic saint who to follow Christ as a poor man.

L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 poverty vow is more bureaucratic than religious. As part of an ambitious effort to fight poverty and reduce government corruption, the president proposed to cut the salaries of public officials, including his own, and . An estimated public employees will lose their jobs.

After lawsuits were filed by and Mexico鈥檚 , the Supreme Court in December of L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 new .

Saying that even austerity budgets must guarantee the basic functioning of the government, Justice Alberto P茅rez Day谩n said L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 plan cannot go into effect until the Supreme Court rules on its constitutionality.

The decision has set up a standoff between the president and the courts, with Mexico鈥檚 federal budget and hanging in the balance.

Reducing inequality, one tree at a time

L贸pez Obrador and his leftist Morena Party won a in Mexico鈥檚 2018 general election on promises that they would transform Mexico, empowering the underprivileged in a country with gaping inequality.

Since taking office on Dec. 1, L贸pez Obrador has suggested creating some 20,000 jobs in fruit production and wood harvesting by on a million acres of land in rural southern Mexico. He has also proposed paying 鈥� around US$134 鈥� to Mexicans above the age of 68 and to people with who lack social security benefits.

Leftist governments usually fund social programs like this by raising taxes on the wealthy. L贸pez Obrador says he . Instead, his administration hopes to recover public funds by cracking down on and saving money with . That鈥檚 where the salary cuts and mass layoffs come into play.

L贸pez Obrador is an , the indigenous president who ruled Mexico from 1858 to 1872. Ju谩rez extolled the virtues of selfless public service, public servants should 鈥渄evote themselves to work assiduously while resigning to live in 鈥� honorable modesty.鈥�

L贸pez Obrador flies commercial and has refused to take up residence in the Los Pinos presidential palace, turning it into a cultural center.

He also set his salary at a 鈥溾�� 108,000 pesos, about 鈥� roughly $68,400 a year. That鈥檚 60 percent less than his predecessor, Enrique Pe帽a Nieto, who earned in 2018.

The wage gap between average workers and the Mexican head of state was the highest in the world last year, according to a , a British financial services company. On average, Mexican workers earn around $15,311 a year.

L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 voluntary pay cut has drastically reduced the difference between his income and .

Attacks on the judiciary

Since mandates that no public official should make more than the president, however, L贸pez Obrador has also effectively capped wages for all government employees.

To his mind, that鈥檚 a good thing.

The days of having 鈥渁 rich government with a poor population鈥� are over, the president in December. He was speaking in the western state of Nayarit, pledging aid for victims of a recent hurricane.

In the same speech, L贸pez Obrador attacked the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision to suspend his pay cut plan, accusing Mexican judges 鈥� not just Justice P茅rez Day谩n 鈥� of selfishly wanting to keep their salaries and benefits intact.

In fact, explicitly prohibits reducing the salary of judges at any time during their appointment, a guarantee of judicial independence that .

In 2018, Supreme Court justices earned 鈥� around $14,000 a month.

The Supreme Court has since to take a 25 percent pay cut 鈥渋n accordance with the new policy of austerity that the presidency has demanded of the Supreme Court of Justice.鈥� That puts their 2019 salaries at about $10,500 a month, not including benefits.

In adopting this measure, the Supreme Court also clarified that, as an independent branch of government directly protected by the Constitution, the judiciary is not bound by the salary standards established by L贸pez Obrador. The justices will decide how to implement austerity within the court system.

Judicial battles ahead

The Supreme Court is expected to make a definitive ruling on the of the Federal Law of Public Servant Salaries some time this year.

Over in federal courts, saying salary cuts violate their labor rights. Under Mexican law, 鈥� and thus unconstitutional 鈥� if it affects the vested rights of individuals. Employers, including the federal government, cannot unilaterally reduce their employees鈥� wages.

At least have already been laid off under L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 austerity plan. Many of those who have kept their jobs have seen their eliminated under the new law.

Beyond its questionable constitutionality, L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 de facto salary cap on public servants does not take into account the expertise, seniority or skills required of high-level positions. Less than $5,700 a month is simply insufficient payment for the most highly skilled workers, Mexican constitutional Elisur Arteaga told the newspaper last year. He expects talent will flee the government for the private sector.

Nobody in Mexico thought that transforming the country would be easy when they voted L贸pez Obrador into office. To , fixing Mexico鈥檚 bloated and corrupt government was work for a surgeon with a scalpel.

L贸pez Obrador, it鈥檚 becoming clear, prefers a machete.

, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory,

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