⁍ Mexico’s Supreme Court on Thursday narrowly backed a bid by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to hold a referendum on whether to allow the prosecution of five of his predecessors.

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⁍ Lopez Obrador has proposed holding the referendum in tandem with mid-term elections in June, though it is not clear that it will be allowed to proceed on the same day.

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⁍ The president has unstintingly cast his predecessors administrations’ as corrupt, blaming them for aggravating inequality, weak growth and chronic violence in Mexico.

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– Mexico’s highest court has ruled in favor of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s bid to allow a referendum on whether to allow the prosecution of five of his predecessors. The ruling by the country’s Supreme Court came after six out of 11 judges declared the referendum constitutional, Reuters reports. Lopez Obrador has proposed holding the referendum in tandem with mid-term elections in June, though it is not clear that it will be allowed to proceed on the same day. He argues Mexicans should be allowed to vote on whether to prosecute Enrique Pena Nieto, Felipe Calderon, Vicente Fox, Ernesto Zedillo, and Carlos Salinas, the five men who each served a six-year presidential term between 1988 and 2018. The president has unstintingly cast his predecessors administrations’ as corrupt, blaming them for aggravating inequality, weak growth, and chronic violence in Mexico. A public opinion poll by newspaper El Universal in August showed overwhelming support for allowing ex-presidents to face trial for crimes committed on their watch. Lopez Obrador’s supporters hailed the court decision as a landmark in efforts to hold past leaders to account for Mexico’s failings. Critics condemned it as a further slide into polarizing the country and submission to Lopez Obrador’s will. Lopez Obrador said this week if the court rejected his bid, he would immediately set about trying to reform the constitution to find another way of pursuing the matter.