Mexico's first woman president has unprecedented power but an uncertain future

Mexico has shattered its glass ceiling, as Claudia Sheinbaum was inaugurated on Oct. 1 as the country's first woman president. As president, Sheinbaum is expected to largely follow the mandates of her predecessor, former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Both are members of the left-wing Morena political party, and López Obrador was considered one of the most progressive Mexican leaders in decades.

Sheinbaum will have one major difference from López Obrador, though, as Mexico's new president will have a nearly unprecedented level of power at her disposal. This comes as the result of several factors, including the weakening of Mexico's judiciary and sweeping congressional control by the Morena party. Despite this, Sheinbaum may still be facing an uphill battle to fix the many problems facing her country.

Why will Sheinbaum be such a powerful president?

It is partly because she is taking over a "government utterly dominated by the ruling Morena party," said The Conversation. The party has existed for just over 10 years, but "has exploited pervasive public disillusionment with the more established parties." As a result, the party has solid majorities in both chambers of Mexico's Congress; Three-quarters of the country's 32 state governors are also from the Morena party.

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This gubernatorial and congressional consolidation, completed by the still-popular López Obrador's coalition, means Sheinbaum "begins her term in an extremely powerful position," said The Conversation. The Morena party is "now so dominant that Mexicans are likening the new government to the one-party system that ruled for most of the 20th century," said The Washington Post.

Sheinbaum's power will also be boosted by López Obrador's "judicial overhaul that will over the next three years replace all of the country's judges with new jurists elected by popular vote," said Reuters. This could lead to a highly politicized judiciary that works in Sheinbaum's favor. Mexico "will be transformed, for all practical purposes, into a one-party autocracy," former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo said at The Economist.

Can Sheinbaum address Mexico's challenges?

Sheinbaum campaigned on a continuation of López Obrador's progressivism. But she takes office at a "time when the nation faces pressing problems, including spiraling organized violence, a slowing economy, and tensions with the United States" because of the judicial overhaul, said Time.

The new president "won't face the kinds of checks and balances that her predecessors did," but she "faces a national security threat in the growing political and economic clout of organized crime groups," said the Post. The country is also seeing an epidemic of femicides that will undoubtedly be at the top of Sheinbaum's to-do list.

But despite her seemingly large swath of power, Sheinbaum "will take office with empty coffers" and growing uncertainty because of the judicial reforms, pro-democracy advocate Carlos Heredia said to The Wall Street Journal. Beyond this, one of her most pressing issues — securing the U.S.-Mexico border — could "be upended if Trump wins the election," said the Journal, as Trump "has vowed to deport millions of migrants and threatened military strikes against drug gangs in Mexico."

And while power has been consolidated, Mexicans remain split along ideological lines regarding their new president. As Sheinbaum took office, hundreds of people in Mexico City "marched against a controversial overhaul of the judiciary," while thousands of Morena supporters "filled the main square, waving flags and chanting for the outgoing leader," said the Financial Times. Sheinbaum's election is "history in the making," and "we're counting on her to give us all her support," Sheinbaum supporter Graciela Hernández said to the Financial Times.