The Mexican bar association and other legal groups in the country have blasted a proposal to extend the term of the country’s chief justice, calling it an attempt to undermine the independence of the judiciary.

The Mexican Congress, which is dominated by the ruling Morena party, voted early Friday to add two years to Arturo Zaldívar’s time as chief justice so that he may lead through 2024, when his appointment at the Supreme Court is scheduled to end. Critics say Zaldívar has aligned with Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who they worry will attempt to stack the courts with allies who rubber stamp his decisions. Since taking office in 2018, the president has forced one Supreme Court judge to resign and appointed two others to the 11-judge high court.