MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday named Lenia Batres as a new Supreme Court judge, after the lawmakers refused to approve one of his earlier candidates for the job.
Batres, who will join the high court immediately, has worked for the Mexico City government in its the urban development, housing and public space agencies.
The capital’s government is run by officials from Lopez Obrador’s leftist MORENA party, and Batres is the sister of Mexico City Mayor Marti Batres.
Lopez Obrador, in the final year of his term as president, has repeatedly sparred with the court, which he has criticized as corrupt and opposed to his agenda.
Last month, the president offered senators three possible nominees to fill the vacancy on the court, but the upper chamber of Congress did not approve any of them, which would have required support from a two-thirds majority.
Early on Thursday morning, Lopez Obrador’s nominees for the post also failed to win the necessary support in the Senate, which enabled him to select his own judge.
Batres, the latest addition to the 11-member tribunal, will serve a 15-year term.
(Reporting by Raul Cortes Fernandez; Editing by David Gregorio)
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