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Mexico’s Presidential Election Results Contested
by CCD Staff; July 11, 2006
Following the 2006 Presidential election, Mexico now faces a test of its new democracy. In the coming weeks, Mexicans will either gain or lose confidence in their country’s electoral process. “The controversy is testing the institutional democracies of Mexico,” said Florencio Zara-goza of Fundación México. “The hope is that the process will work itself out — the stability of Mexico is at stake.”
After speaking to 150,000 demonstrators in Mexico City, leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sent a report alleging election irregularities to the Federal Electoral Court (TEPJF). At the rally, Lopez Obrador encouraged more peaceful protests and accused the Federal Electoral Institute of being a “pawn of the party of the right.” Thus far, violence has been avoided. Observers consider the handling of this dispute a test of Mexico’s ability to continue on the path of becoming a modern democratic state.
Pressure for election reform deepened in 1988 when the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was accused of fraudulently winning the presidency. As a result, new laws removed government control over elections with the creation an autonomous agency called the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) and an electoral court to rule on disputes. Also, a special prosecutor's office under the attorney general investigates election-related crimes. In this year’s presidential election, for example, the IFE demanded businesses to cease publicly supporting candidates and offering benefits to employees who vote.
In the 900-page report, Lopez Obrador alleges discrepancies between votes and registered voters, improper government spending by the Fox administration in support of candidate Felipe Calderon's campaign, excessive spending, and a software program used to distort initial vote-count reports. Lopez Obrador contends he has evidence of fraud and thus argues: “What we are asking is that they count the votes once again, polling place by polling place.”
Furthermore, Lopez Obrador accused President Fox of unfairly aiding Calderon. President Fox frequently publicly criticized Lopez Obrador and led a taxpayer-funded advertising campaign promoting his party, PAN. Lopez Obrador publicly stated that President Fox “dedicated himself to attacking us and ended up being a complete traitor of democracy.” Both Calderon and President Fox, who both belong to PAN, have denied collaboration.
On the other hand, rivals accused Lopez Obrador's party of using public money to lure votes in Mexico City, where he was once mayor.
Overall, the independent Mexican supervisory organization, Alianza Civica, said as many as four million people received benefits from the three main political parties in return for their vote.
The TEPJF will review the case, which includes videos, campaign propaganda, and electoral documents. The TEPJF has until September 6th to declare a winner. Even though the vote count appears to show that Calderon won the election with 35.88% of the vote (a margin of some 240,000 votes) on July 6th, the Federal Electoral Tribunal has yet to ratify the official count. Nonetheless, Calderón has declared himself the winner and has received congratulations from the US, Canada, and the European Union.
Regardless of the candidate eventually declared winner, Mexico’s affiliation with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is bound to change. The two candidates offer starkly different views on the requirements and provisions of NAFTA. Calderon has promoted a more free-market economy and has promised a close alignment with US government policy. Calderon has also refused to renegotiate the agricultural clause of NAFTA, which would liberalize trade in corn and beans in 2008. Lopez Obrador, however, has demanded renegotiation of the NAFTA agricultural clause to protect Mexico’s three million farmers. He has also called for government programs providing pensions and subsidized services for the poor, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.
Lopez Obrador led a campaign in which he promoted greater aid to the poor; free medical care and food subsidies to the elderly; revisions to the North American Free Trade Agreement; and ending continued privatization of Mexico’s oil and gas industries. Meanwhile, Calderon received strong support from the business community because of his mission to maintain President Fox’s pro-business policies. His slogan became the “President of Employment” because he vowed to attract investment and create jobs by continuing free-trade policies and public spending restraints, which are supported by the middle and upper classes.
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