8 of the 11 members of the Mexican Supreme Court have resigned…

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Eight Mexican Supreme Court justices have said they will leave the court rather than stand for election as required by a controversial overhaul of the judiciary passed last month.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Norma Piña and seven others submitted letters on Tuesday and Wednesday saying they would resign rather than participate in judicial elections scheduled for June next year.

Three other court judges have said they will run. Previously, Supreme Court judges were elected by the Senate.

Last month Mexico’s Congress passed — and a majority of states have ratified — then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s initiative to make all of the country’s judges electable.

Lopez Obrador and his allies, including his successor Claudia Sheinbaum, said that radical changes will help rid the judicial system of corruption. But critics say the courts will become less independent and more dependent on political forces.

The resignation came before the lower house of Congress later Wednesday passed another constitutional change that would shield constitutional amendments such as judicial reform from legal challenges. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case in the coming days.

The amendment was adopted by 343 votes in favor and 129 against. The Senate previously passed the bill.

Business groups in particular have expressed concern that the changes will weaken the rule of law. Mexico’s employers’ association Coparmex said in a statement before the vote that the initiative “jeopardizes fundamental guarantees that have protected citizens for decades.”

Throughout his six-year term, López Obrador clashed with the courts as they repeatedly rejected some of his initiatives. He criticized judges in his daily morning press briefings, and Sheinbaum, his protégé, continued in the same vein.

On Tuesday, Sheinbaum joked that if Supreme Court justices don’t retire now before registration for judicial candidates closes in November, they could lose their pensions. “It’s a lot of money,” she said.