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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | July 2006 
Conservative Felipe Calderon Grabs Lead in Mexico's Presidential Cliffhanger
 Patrick Moser - AFP
| | Felipe Calderon, presidential candidate of the National Action Party (PAN), celebrates at his party headquarters in Mexico City, July 6, 2006. (Tomas Bravo/Reuters) |
Conservative Felipe Calderon stopped just short of claiming victory as he addressed cheering supporters after grabbing a minute lead in Mexico's presidential cliffhanger.
"Draw your own conclusions," the ruling National Action Party (PAN,) candidate said Thursday amid chants of "we won, we won."
Nearly complete results of the contested July 2 presidential election posted early Thursday gave him 35.67 percent and a lead of 0.15 points over his leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost ground steadily.
"The PAN is in the lead in the election for the president of the republic," said Calderon as less than two percent of ballots remained to be tallied.
He said the votes that were yet to be added up were from areas where the ruling party has strong support.
Calderon reiterated his campaign pledges to provide jobs and security, and to address pressing social issues if he is indeed elected.
The Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) was due to announce a president-elect once all the votes are counted. It will then hand over to the electoral tribunal, which would address any challenges and must validate the outcome.
The tribunal has until September 6 to make its final proclamation, something that was a mere formality in the two previous elections held since its creation.
Lopez Obrador has demanded a full manual recount of the 42 million votes cast on Sunday, claiming widespread irregularities in a provisional vote count conducted after the July 2 election.
He was expected to comment on later Thursday on the new results, which are based on a recount of the tallies of ballots sent in from the 130,500 polling offices.
"The stability of the country is at stake," Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday, as his Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) raised the possibility of a formal challenge of the outcome.
IFE made it clear there was no legal basis for a full manual recount at this stage.
Once all the results are in, political parties have four days to raise legal objections.
The Mexican stock exchange, which had remained stable in the first two days after the election, fell by four points on Wednesday. Analysts said the drop was partly due to uncertainty over the outcome of the election.
A pro-business conservative, Calderon had capitalized on fears that a Lopez Obrador victory would plunge Mexico into an economic crisis.
Calderon, 43, has served as energy minister in the cabinet of President Vicente Fox, whose 2000 victory ended 71 years of authoritarian rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI.)
During his campaign, he portrayed himself as the candidate for economic stability and employment.
But Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor who champions the cause of the downtrodden, claimed Calderon represented a government that served the wealthy to the detriment of the millions of impoverished Mexicans.
A free trade advocate, Calderon has vowed to complete fiscal reforms as well as labor and energy projects that were stymied during the Fox government for want of congressional support.
He has said he would seek congressional alliances to ensure the projects can be realised.
The PAN will become the main congressional party after winning about 34 percent of the seats in both the House and the Senate on July 2, but will not have an outright majority.
The new president will take office on December 1. |
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