BBC : Mexican election result: Readers react

Mexican election result: Readers react

BBC News | September 6, 2006

BBC News website readers in Mexico have been reacting to the court ruling which awarded the long-disputed presidency to governing party candidate Felipe Calderon.

Here three supporters of Mr Calderon and three of his opponent Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador - who still refuses to accept defeat - give their verdict on the final result.

JOEL ALDO DIAZ, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

For people to react to the ruling with surprise would be idiotic.

We all knew that Calderon legitimately won the election.

I personally am glad he is now the official president-elect, because his pro-business policies will be good for the Mexican business environment.

In a time when we are competing with nations such as China, it's not good to have an isolationist government that is eager to expropriate foreign investments in the country.

He also won the election within the confines of our laws, and when there was reasonable doubt, he once again used our constitution and our laws to defend his victory.

However, this is a democracy and a third of us are obviously very unhappy with the result of the election, so it is up to Calderon to unify the country, and make sure that campaign promises aren't just swept under the rug.

And to Obrador I would say: Mexico is not a banana republic. Quit your antics and move on.

CLAUDIA HASSE, VERACRUZ, MEXICO

Everything about this election was fraudulent. There are plenty of reports and analysis to prove it.

Lopez Obrador won the election and ought to be proclaimed our president, not Felipe Calderon.

What we are witnessing now is the start of a bitter division in our society. Our political institutions have been kidnapped by a minority - a minority who use them only to enrich and suit their own greedy ambitions.

The judges representing the Federal Electoral Tribunal did not fulfil their function and obligation to the people - which was meant to clear up all doubts over the election results.

The ruling party stole this election and the mainstream media is depriving the public of their right to be informed

It is an injustice that they have not accepted a full recount of the votes in an election with such a closely-disputed result.

In the less than 10% of ballot-boxes they dared to recount, they ignored the flagrant violations and manipulations to the ballot-boxes and ballots.

If they had acted like they are supposed to, according to the constitution, they should have annulled those votes that were found to be altered.

The ruling National Action Party (PAN) stole this election and the mainstream media is depriving the public of their right to be informed. The right-wing has not only installed a spurious president but have re-established their dictatorial regime.

ESTHER RUIZ, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

I am so pleased that Felipe Calderon was finally named president-elect, even when we all knew the result already.

Democracy has won, and Felipe had always been my favourite candidate.

I am just 17 but I'm old enough to see how wrong Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and all his supporters have been to protest this result.

Felipe won legitimately and, finally, Lopez Obrador will have to accept that.

I think that the biggest challenge Felipe will now face will be to end the protests and heal the political divisions the country is facing.

To do this, he must convince everyone in Mexico of the legitimacy of his victory, because there will still be some people who will be thinking that the results were fixed.

Secondly, he must provide the jobs he promised, especially to young Mexicans.

GERARDO HORVILLEUR, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

I feel very angry about the tribunal's ruling.

I am also worried because I believe they acted irresponsibly.

What they just did was like throwing sticks of dynamite into a blazing fire.

A large section of the population believes our legal system is broken.

This will just confirm their beliefs and provide them with a moral justification to break the law and cause more disturbances.

To make myself clear let me paraphrase a few things the tribunal said today:

Regarding broken seals on a large number of electoral ballot packages - they said that isn't evidence of tampering.

Regarding President Vicente Fox - the governing National Action Party (PAN), and private companies breaking electoral laws - it is true, they broke the law, they shouldn't have done it but it is not relevant to the result of the election.

So I will oppose the ruling.

I am not so sure about Lopez Obrador's idea of a parallel government, but if it turns out to be the best - and most peaceful - way to oppose the ruling then I will support it.

LUIS MEJIA-MARTINEZ, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

I'm proud to say that I voted for Felipe Calderon and happy to say that we have finally won.

It's only by a very narrow margin (0.56%) but it's still a great victory which is now official and there is nothing Lopez Obrador can do but give up his obsessive search for power.

Our constitution states clearly that the Federal Electoral Tribunal's decision is final. It's clear that most Mexicans back the court's ruling.

Now Mexico can show the world that we have a president-elect and a great institution that we can trust.


One can only hope that reason can prevail and things don't get out of control
However, the coming days could see some ugly scenes. Mr Fox has said that he is not going to send the army to clear the Zocalo and Reforma areas, which are occupied by Lopez Obrador supporters.

This is a big mistake. I don't want to see confrontations but I do want those people to obey the same laws as the rest of us.

Otherwise it sends a clear message to all Mexicans that it is okay to break the law.

Lopez Obrador may have shown some signs yesterday that the battle is nearing its end by saying that what he was fighting for has now turned into a dream. To me, this indicates that he has come to terms with the result and will finally end this mayhem.
One can only hope that reason can prevail and things don't get out of control.

I'm a firm believer that in true democracy there's room for all political wings - left, centre, right. Otherwise we would just be like Cuba or Venezuela.

JOSE LUIS NAVA HERNANDEZ, CUERNAVACA, MORELOS, MEXICO

The Mexican capitalists - supported by the USA - have kidnapped the election.

The Mexican government does not represent the people of Mexico any more. It only represents, as Mr Fox said at the very beginning of his government, the interests of the "empresarios" [entrepreneurs].

I don't agree with the court ruling, as don't 15 million other Mexicans at least.

Andres Manuel has been left to fight for the interests of the Mexican people.

We will now look for ways to get raid of this illegitimate, corrupt Calderon government which will only have its own interests at heart.

They say Andres Manuel wants to break the law and change the outcome of the election, but it is they who have broken so many laws in order to "win". Shame on them.

We aren't angry anymore as we knew the judges would rule this way. We are now occupied with forming a new government, not a parallel one, but a new and real one - a true government in which corruption, inequality and poverty won't exist any more.

We will get rid of the spurious one and install our new president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.