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 Business News | June 2006 
Lopez Obrador to Avoid Chaos if Defeated
 Greg Brosnan - Reuters
| | A supporter of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidential candidate for Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), shouts near his National Action Party opponent Felipe Calderon's rally in Mexico City. (Reuters/Daniel Aguilar) |
Mexican leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador would not stir up trouble on the streets if he is narrowly defeated in a presidential election, but would instead fight any vote fraud in the courts, a top campaign aide said on Monday.
Investors worry that Lopez Obrador, a former Indian welfare officer, could summon angry supporters onto the streets if he loses on July 2, causing political gridlock and maybe even violence that could rock financial markets.
But Ricardo Monreal, a top campaign aide and political dealmaker, said the left would steer clear of rabble-rousing.
"We will not shut down or occupy offices, cause chaos or problems," he told Reuters. "We will go to the courts."
Lopez Obrador is neck-and-neck in opinion polls with conservative rival Felipe Calderon, who earlier stole the leftist's lead by comparing him to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and warning he would wreck Mexico's economy if elected.
The Mexican left, which has accused Calderon of underhand tactics in the campaign, lost a presidential election in 1988 that was widely believed to have been rigged by the then-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI.
President Vicente Fox beat the PRI out of power for Calderon's National Action Party, or PAN, in 2000 elections.
Monreal said Fox's party was now employing the same tactics the PRI had used for years to keep the left out of power, including using government welfare programs to buy votes.
"Today we are worried about the PAN because it has been using the same dirty tricks," he said in an interview.
Lopez Obrador expected to win by a wide margin but would stick to the rules if beaten, even if his defeat smelled of fraud, Monreal said.
ACT RESPONSIBLY
"Andres Manuel will act responsibly ... He will not ask people to do anything outside the law," he said. "We will not resort to anything which disturbs the peace."
Monreal said Lopez Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution would try to prevent fraud by putting at least one observer at each polling booth, taking particular care to man remote stations in mountains, deserts and jungles.
Three opinion polls last week showed former Mexico City Mayor Lopez Obrador winning back a lead he had held for two years but which had slipped after Calderon's negative ads.
But pollster Zogby International gave Calderon a three-point lead over Lopez Obrador on Monday, contradicting the newspaper surveys while showing that the conservative's advantage had narrowed since its last poll in May.
Wall Street is focused on the election and its immediate aftermath, but many fear Lopez Obrador's plans for greater social spending could bankrupt a country that has fought hard to exorcise past ghosts of hyperinflation and too much debt.
"Investors should relax because nothing is going to alter the country's economy," said Monreal.
"Andres Manuel is going to push for a left resembling social democracy, responsibly managing the economy, maintaining a balanced budget, control over inflation and above all creating jobs." |
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