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Mexico’s lower house of Congress approved President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s proposal to overhaul the judiciary, a major reform that would see nearly all of the country’s judges elected by popular vote but which critics fear could put democracy at risk, Bloomberg reported.

The ruling Morena party and its allies used their two-thirds majority in the lower chamber to pass the reform early Wednesday. Lawmakers debated and voted on the plan in a sports center in Mexico City due to thousands of demonstrators who opposed the reform blocking access to the legislature.

The proposal will overhaul the current judicial system where judicial appointments are based on special training and qualifications. Under the new rules, more than 7,000 federal, state and local judges, including Supreme Court justices, will face voters.

The number of judges on the Supreme Court will be reduced from 11 to nine, and their term limits will be shortened from 15 to 12 years. Meanwhile, the minimum age requirement for judges will be abolished, and the required number of years of experience will be reduced from 10 to five.

López Obrador – whose term of office finishes at the end of the month – maintains that the reforms are needed to modernize the judiciary and instill trust in a system that has been long plagued by corruption and nepotism, the New York Times wrote.

But many critics, including judges, opposition politicians and American observers fear that it would undermine judicial independence and turn the judiciary into a politically influenced body.

Opposition lawmaker Claudia Ruiz Massieu Salinas claimed the reform aims to eliminate checks on power and accused the ruling party of attempting to concentrate its authority.

Judges and court workers walk out in protest over the proposed overhaul. On Tuesday, eight of the 11 Supreme Court justices voted to temporarily suspend sessions and join the strikes.

The reform has also caused a diplomatic row between the outgoing López Obrador and US Ambassador Ken Salazar, who called it “a major risk to the functioning of Mexico’s democracy.”

López Obrador’s successor, President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum, has dismissed concerns that the reform would affect the country’s trade relations or investments, emphasizing that it will bring “better rule of law and more democracy for all.”

Lawmakers still need to discuss individual articles of the bill, but the core objective remains intact. The draft law will now proceed to the upper house, where debate could begin as early as Thursday.