Mexico City – The ruling party candidate held onto his narrow lead in the disputed presidential election after a partial recount of votes, the top electoral court said Monday in a strong indication that conservative Felipe Calderon will be declared the winner.
But the judges held off on naming the president-elect and still have the option until Sept. 6 to annul the July 2 election.
Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reacted to the announcement in outrage, calling on supporters never to accept Calderon as president and asking them to decide if he should form a parallel government or carry on a nationwide campaign of protests.
“We will never allow an illegal and illegitimate government to be installed in our country,” he told thousands in Mexico City’s central plaza, calling acceptance of Calderon tantamount to a coup d’etat.
Calderon said the decision supported the votes of millions of Mexicans. “We are on the right path,” he said.
Lopez Obrador demanded a full recount of all 41 million votes. The court instead ordered a recount of the 9 percent of all the polling places where they believed there was evidence of irregularities.
