Thousands of judicial workers and judges have gone on strike this week in Mexico, as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador seeks to advance a massive overhaul of the country’s courts.

At the core of the proposed reforms is a controversial plan to elect federal judges, including Supreme Court appointees and electoral magistrates, by popular vote. Lopez Obrador has said the change is needed to root out corruption.

Julio Rios Figueroa, a law professor in Mexico City, warned that the reforms could eat away at the government’s checks and balances, not to mention destabilise the justice system. He also warned that the reforms may allow Lopez Obrador’s Morena party to wield undue influence over the legal system.

After its sweep of the June 2 general elections, the Morena party has led a major push to pass constitutional changes before Lopez Obrador’s term expires at the end of September.

He is set to be succeeded by president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, a Morena official who won the presidency with more votes than any candidate in Mexican history. That consolidation of power within the Morena party has some observers nervous about the continued independence of the judiciary.