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Lopez Obrador takes his challenge of Mexico's election to the street, courts
AFP/File/Eunice Adorno
General view of supporters of Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during a rally at the Zocalo square in Mexico City on July 8. Supporters of leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have filed a formal request with Mexican electoral authorities demanding a full recount of the July 2 presidential election.By Patrick Moser
AFP
MEXICO CITY
Petroleumworld.com 07 10 06Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, 52, Saturday took his challenge of Mexico's presidential election to the streets and to the courts, claiming the entire process was plagued by irregularities.
"What we are requesting is that the votes be recounted so that our triumph be demonstrated," he said ahead of a rally in downtown Mexico City to protest the results that gave a narrow victory to conservative Felipe Calderon, of the ruling National Action Party (PAN.)
He said his lawyers would demonstrate to the courts that the entire electoral process was warped.
"The process was plagued by irregularities," the standard-bearer of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) said at a news conference.
"The votes were counted but were badly counted. They were counted to favor the right-wing candidate," he said, claiming electoral authorities manipulated the process.
He also claimed that President Vicente Fox illegally interfered in the campaign in favor of Calderon, that the PAN had far exceeded campaign spending limits, and that the governing party bought votes.
The lawyers will present their challenge to the Federal Electoral Tribunal on Sunday, and will also file complaints with the Supreme Court, which can issue recommendations to the tribunal, the final arbiter of electoral disputes.
He made it clear he will also take his protest to the streets, saying Saturday's demonstration would be the first of several such actions, but insisting the rallies would be peaceful.
The former Mexico City mayor lashed out at Calderon, claiming the Harvard-trained conservative served "a very powerful interest group in Mexico that for quite a while has converted the government into a committee at the service of a minority."
"This group not only has no interest in improving the life of millions of Mexicans, but has profound contempt for the poor."
Asked about foreign leaders, including US President George W. Bush, who congratulated Calderon on his victory, Lopez Obrador insisted "there is no president-elect in Mexico."
The electoral tribunal has until September 6 to render its final verdict on the outcome of the July 2 election.
Calderon, 43, who won with an advantage of just over 244,000 votes, or 0.6 percentage points, dismissed his rival's claims, and a number of international observers called the election free and fair.
He insisted now was the time for Mexicans to put the campaign disputes behind them and work to create a politically stable country attractive to foreign investors.
Speaking to journalists on Friday, Calderon said that battling poverty, which affects half the 103 million population, would be one of his top priorities.
He urged the United States to invest in economically depressed areas of Mexico to create badly-needed jobs.
This he said would be far more effective in halting illegal migration to the United States than a wall the US administration plans to build along the border. Last year, an estimated 400,000 Mexicans crossed the border illegally, often risking their lifes trekking along deserts and arid mountains.
"A kilometer of road in (the Mexican states) of Zacatecas or in Michoacan will do more than a kilometer of wall in (the US states) of Texas or Arizona to reduce migration, and we must understand this on both sides of the border."
He said he would do his part by ensuring Mexico becomes a competitive economy, and would seek investments in the oil sector, particularly to build refineries and conduct deep-water oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.
The next president will have to deal with a divided Congress, after the PAN got the most votes for the House and the Senate but fell well short of an outright majority.
AFP 08 1947 GMT 07 06
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