By Cassandra Garrison and Diego Oré

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s lower house approved a judicial reform on Wednesday morning, ushering in a new era of elections for all judges, a vote welcomed by the ruling party but seen by the opposition as a dangerous experiment.

The overwhelming approval vote by lawmakers clears the way for the constitutional reform to move to the Senate, where debate is expected to begin next Wednesday.

Although the governing coalition is also expected to approve the proposal in the Senate, the vote there could be more exciting.

“We have delivered a civic achievement,” said a triumphant Ricardo Monreal, leader of the ruling Morena party, shortly after the bill was approved.

“Without arrogance and without excessive attitudes, we can say that we have fulfilled our promise to the people.”

The overhaul is expected to be implemented later in September, during the final month of outgoing President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador’s term. The leftist leader has frequently complained about what he calls corruption among top judges.

After a marathon session in the Lower House that began late Tuesday night, the bill’s approval marks a crucial step in enforcing the latest priority of the popular Lopez Obrador.

His leftist Morena ruling party and its allies — who hold the two-thirds supermajority needed in the lower house for constitutional reform — easily approved the bill, passing it by 357 votes to 130.

The reform drive has led to a strike by judicial officials, strained relations with the United States and concerns in financial markets as investors worry about the safety of their investments in Mexico under the new system.

Lopez Obrador and his supporters argue that elected judges will increase accountability and reduce corruption.

The reform also reduces the number of Supreme Court judges from 11 to nine, limits their terms of office to 12 years and abolishes the age limit for ministers and magistrates.

Critics have noted that the bill will not affect prosecutors and police, who they say are the real culprits of impunity and corruption.

On Tuesday, lawmakers began their session after a six-hour delay, moving to a sports complex in Mexico City after striking legal workers blocked the entrance to the lower house in protest, claiming the proposed reform would trample on their labor rights.

“They don’t want to face the thousands of people who are outside demanding their rights,” opposition lawmaker Maria Josefina Gamboa said during the hearing.

In a rare move, most Supreme Court justices also voted in favor of the work stoppage on Tuesday.

The Mexican peso has suffered badly since national elections last June, which saw Morena’s Claudia Sheinbaum win the presidential election and also give the party a majority in Congress.

But on Wednesday, the rate fell only slightly by 0.16%, immediately after the bill’s final approval.

(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison, Diego Ore and Kylie Madry; additional reporting by Brendan O’Boyle and Noe Torres; Editing by Angus MacSwan, David Alire Garcia and Sandra Maler)