Forbes : Lopez Obrador rejects Calderon as winner of Mexico presidential polls

Lopez Obrador rejects Calderon as winner of Mexico presidential polls

September 5, 2006

MEXICO CITY (XFN-ASIA) - Presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he rejects the electoral tribunal's declaration of Felipe Calderon as the winner of Mexico's presidential election.

'I express my decision to reject the ruling of the electoral tribunal and refuse to recognize the one who presents himself as the holder of federal executive power,' Lopez Obrador told a few hundred supporters in downtown Mexico City.

In a unanimous ruling announced earlier Wednesday by the seven tribunal judges, Calderon was declared the official victor in the closest presidential election in Mexico's history, beating Lopez Obrador by only 0.56 pct of the votes cast in the July 2 polls.

'Felipe Calderon is declared president-elect of Mexico from Dec 1, 2006 to Nov 1, 2012,' said the head of the Federal Electoral Tribunal, Leonel Castillo.

While the tribunal's decision cannot be appealed, Lopez Obrador, a popular former Mexico City mayor, has insisted he would continue to lead street protests against what he claims was massive fraud that robbed him of victory in the election.

afp