Posted on 07/27/2006 12:59:45 PM PDT by SmithL
MEXICO CITY - Mexico's leftist presidential candidate said Thursday he has lost faith in Mexico's main electoral agency, and doesn't want them overseeing the national recount he is demanding.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Mexico's widely respected Federal Electoral Institute, or IFE, had abandoned its autonomous role and taken become a tool of the ruling party.
"You can't take IFE people seriously," he said. "They don't act according to the law."
An official IFE count gave conservative Felipe Calderon a less than 1 percent advantage in the July 2 elections. Lopez Obrador is disputing that result in Mexico's top electoral court, in a nearly 900-page complaint demanding that the Federal Electoral Court order a ballot-by-ballot recount.
Electoral officials and President Vicente Fox's National Action Party have argued that, under Mexican law, officials can only recount results from a polling place if a party challenges them and the court finds evidence of irregularities or fraud. Lopez Obrador's party has presented challenges for about 40 percent of the polling places.
But Lopez Obrador insisted Thursday that the electoral court has the authority to order a full recount.
"There isn't anything stopping them," he said of the seven judges who will decide his fate, "unless they don't have the political will."
He refused to condemn the court, saying he wanted to first see how it rules.
If a recount is ordered, he said he would prefer to see independent observers brought in to carry out the count, instead of IFE.
Lopez Obrador alleges that vote totals were mis-tallied and even falsified in favor of Calderon. On Thursday, he said his campaign had found mathematical errors in the reports of at least 72,000 polling places.
He pledged to continue his fight on behalf of his supporters, who are expected to fill Mexico City's main plaza on Sunday, the third mass demonstration he has held since the election. He blamed Mexico's ruling elite for his loss and said the poor, who make up his main base of support, would continue to fight for him.
"For millions of Mexicans, this is about survival," he said of his election.
Lopez Obrador promised to "govern for all, but for the poor first," saying he would create government pensions and subsidies for the elderly, single mothers and millions of others struggling to make a living.
Near-daily protests continued Thursday, with Lopez Obrador supporters protesting outside Mexico's stock market.
Lopez Obrador said he didn't want the election annulled because he believes a recount will show that he really won, and "put aside doubts" about the electoral process. He said he also was following the demands of his followers, who largely want a recount.
Mexico's reformed electoral process laid the groundwork for Fox's historic victory in 2000, which ended 71 years of one-party rule. The Federal Electoral Institute has been held up internationally as a model, advising emerging democracies like Iraq and Haiti.
A poll published Thursday by El Universal newspaper found 48 percent support for a recount and 28 percent against the idea - even though 52.5 percent of those polled believe Calderon won. That compares to 38.1 percent who think Lopez Obrador was the true winner.
The polling firm Ipsos-Bimsa interviewed 1,000 adults across Mexico from July 21-24. The poll had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
....guess the communist jimmah carter can be called in to overlook things...why not he's done his best at other shady elections.
Doogle
"If a recount is ordered, he said he would prefer to see independent observers brought in to carry out the count, instead of IFE."
I hear Jimmuh Carter is free!
Darn!
Beat again!
:)
Looks like Old Mexico is getting ready to have another one of their regime changes through civil war. Gen. Santa Anna's ghost is smiling about now(I am sure I butchered the spelling, but, it's the thought that counts)
whine, cry, and claim victory 'cause "we was robbed..."
They might even be able to sign up Mondale and Dukakis if they're not too busy combing the beaches with their metal detectors.
Obrador is a demagogue, in the vein of Hugo Chavez. If he succeeds in strong-arming his way into office, he will attempt to bully the United States in the same way.
What an utter scumbag.
"He refused to condemn the court, saying he wanted to first see how it rules."
I think that that summed up the whole article quite nicely.
In other words..."If they rule for me, then I like them. If they rule for the other guy, they are corrupt."
Wow. How's that for a loaded statement? Nothing like faith in Democracy. Leftists grabbing for power any way they can.
:)
Just like the leftists here. If they lose an election, it's because it was fixed. If they win, "the people have spoken".
Looks like the Commie won't give up...
Wonder if Putin and Co will give Orbidator a hand???
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