Mexico’s top court invalidated the second half of an electoral reform supported by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that had received widespread criticism for requiring changes soon before the 2024 federal election.

A long-time conflict between the nation’s election regulator and the president led him to propose changes that would reduce costs in the electoral process. The Supreme Court justices on Thursday voted in favor of invalidating the portion of the reform that could have led to job cuts within the nation’s election regulator. In a similar ruling last month, the justices annulled the first part of the legislation.

“It’s an invasion and an interference of the legislative branch,” said AMLO, as the president is known, at a press conference on Thursday, anticipating that the justices would annul the second part too. “They’re defending a conservative minority.”

Read More: AMLO Blasts Supreme Court Rejection of Mexico Election Reform

The proposal had been met with some of the largest protests seen during the president’s term and became a rallying cry for members of the political opposition. The president on Thursday reiterated a proposal to reform the law for judges to be elected by popular vote, arguing that it would be a more direct way for Mexicans to have a say in what is considered justice. His conflict with the court has become increasingly public after it invalidated a series of reforms he pushed forward.

The court said it annulled the election proposal on procedural grounds, with nine of the eleven justices voting in favor of the decision and arguing that there were irregularities in the legislative process. Supreme Court President Norma Piña had taken a similar stance in the earlier ruling on the electoral reform, stating that all political forces had to be heard during congressional deliberations and that adequate time had to be allowed for debate.

Opponents of the reform also argued that the legislation could impact the upcoming election cycle in mid-2024, when a new president is chosen.