Thursday, July 06, 2006
Mature democracy or more fraud? Mexicans divided
By Catherine Bremer
Reuters
Monday, July 03, 2006
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A cliffhanger presidential vote and rival claims of victory have split Mexicans into two camps: those who believe in their young democracy and others who fear the bad old days of fraud are not yet gone.
As the conservative ruling party's Felipe Calderon declared himself president-elect on Monday and his leftist rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, huddled with advisors to decide how to challenge the result, their supporters took very different views on the state of democracy.
Some saw the election as another success, showing Mexico had not only embraced free and fair elections but was able to keep calm even when the result was extremely close.
Others who support Lopez Obrador, an anti-poverty crusader, said the election stank of the dirty tricks that were so common in Mexico during most of the 20th century.
"For me, this is fraud. It's not fair," 57-year-old Francesca Contreras said angrily as she wiped clean the counter of her stall in a sprawling Mexico City food market.
"I believe Lopez Obrador won. Entire neighborhoods voted for him ... They are plotting something and they are mocking the people. I hope people rise up, even take up arms, against this."
Although the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) has ordered a recount for Wednesday, official returns from 97.7 percent of polling stations gave National Action Party candidate Calderon a lead of 1 percentage point, or nearly 400,000 votes, over Lopez Obrador.
Both had claimed victory on Sunday night after an election that opinion polls predicted would be nailbitingly close.
PRESSURE
Wall Street and political analysts have said they fear a narrow Calderon victory could spark street protests by Lopez Obrador supporters, who chanted victory on Sunday and warned they would not accept foul play.
But some Mexicans were confident democratic institutions can handle the pressure.
"It's great. It was a clean election. They are fighting over who won. This shows we are learning democracy," said Juan Ayuba, 58, selling pickles and glazed fruit at the market.
"It's not like before, when there was a lot of manipulation of the elections. IFE will have the final word."
The Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled for 71 years until it was finally toppled in 2000, trailed in a distant third place in Sunday's vote.
It was a far cry from the days when PRI presidents handpicked their successors, local party chiefs would coerce the poor to vote for the party and operatives simply stole elections if they faced a real challenge.
Mexico has been scrabbling slowly toward democracy ever since the 1988 election was famously rigged, with the PRI government claiming its computers crashed just as leftist Cuauhtemoc Cardenas was headed for victory.
When the computerized vote count was restarted, PRI candidate Carlos Salinas was winning.
"For 71 years we were under an anarchy and now we are excited because we see things have changed," said butcher Fernando Salcedo of the changed political map.
Many of Mexico's poor remain disillusioned however.
"Ah, so it went into penalties," joked a rubbish sweeper at the market, who hadn't voted or followed the result. "Anyway, why vote? They're all the same, they all rob us."
Reuters
Monday, July 03, 2006
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A cliffhanger presidential vote and rival claims of victory have split Mexicans into two camps: those who believe in their young democracy and others who fear the bad old days of fraud are not yet gone.
As the conservative ruling party's Felipe Calderon declared himself president-elect on Monday and his leftist rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, huddled with advisors to decide how to challenge the result, their supporters took very different views on the state of democracy.
Some saw the election as another success, showing Mexico had not only embraced free and fair elections but was able to keep calm even when the result was extremely close.
Others who support Lopez Obrador, an anti-poverty crusader, said the election stank of the dirty tricks that were so common in Mexico during most of the 20th century.
"For me, this is fraud. It's not fair," 57-year-old Francesca Contreras said angrily as she wiped clean the counter of her stall in a sprawling Mexico City food market.
"I believe Lopez Obrador won. Entire neighborhoods voted for him ... They are plotting something and they are mocking the people. I hope people rise up, even take up arms, against this."
Although the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) has ordered a recount for Wednesday, official returns from 97.7 percent of polling stations gave National Action Party candidate Calderon a lead of 1 percentage point, or nearly 400,000 votes, over Lopez Obrador.
Both had claimed victory on Sunday night after an election that opinion polls predicted would be nailbitingly close.
PRESSURE
Wall Street and political analysts have said they fear a narrow Calderon victory could spark street protests by Lopez Obrador supporters, who chanted victory on Sunday and warned they would not accept foul play.
But some Mexicans were confident democratic institutions can handle the pressure.
"It's great. It was a clean election. They are fighting over who won. This shows we are learning democracy," said Juan Ayuba, 58, selling pickles and glazed fruit at the market.
"It's not like before, when there was a lot of manipulation of the elections. IFE will have the final word."
The Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled for 71 years until it was finally toppled in 2000, trailed in a distant third place in Sunday's vote.
It was a far cry from the days when PRI presidents handpicked their successors, local party chiefs would coerce the poor to vote for the party and operatives simply stole elections if they faced a real challenge.
Mexico has been scrabbling slowly toward democracy ever since the 1988 election was famously rigged, with the PRI government claiming its computers crashed just as leftist Cuauhtemoc Cardenas was headed for victory.
When the computerized vote count was restarted, PRI candidate Carlos Salinas was winning.
"For 71 years we were under an anarchy and now we are excited because we see things have changed," said butcher Fernando Salcedo of the changed political map.
Many of Mexico's poor remain disillusioned however.
"Ah, so it went into penalties," joked a rubbish sweeper at the market, who hadn't voted or followed the result. "Anyway, why vote? They're all the same, they all rob us."
# posted by Nancy T. @ 9:44 PM 
