Mexico election: AMLO may not recognize full recount

In an interview published in La Crónica, Andrés Manuel López Obrador refused to confirm that he would recognize a full recount of the presidential election ballots if the result did not go his way. This is important:

También titubeó al responder si aceptaría el veredicto del Tribunal Electoral, aún si se contara voto a voto y el resultado fuera favorable al panista Felipe Calderón: "Vamos a ver..."

Translation: He also hesitated to answer whether he would accept the final verdict of the Electoral Tribunal, even if they conducted a full recount, if that verdict were to favor the PAN's Felipe Calderón. "We'll see . . ."

What he's saying here is that he might refuse to recognize any result other than that which would declare him the winner. One wonders why he even participated in an election. He should have just declared himself the new president and saved a lot of time and money. This seems to be getting out of hand, I think.

During the interview, he backed away from his earlier assertions that his party's poll watchers had been bribed to either stay away from the polls or to look the other way when vote fraud was committed. In fact, he now denies saying any such thing. He says that the Mexican press made it all up.

In this interview with La Jornada, he offers up this laugher. To the question,"Are there risks in confronting the PAN due to the indignation and the rabidness of your followers? Answer:

This must be avoided. I said it last Saturday and I will repeat it next Sunday (at the big rally and march planned for Mexico City). We must not lower ourselves to causing any type of provocation. If the people peacefully mobilize, that will be something extraordinary. So, why resort to confrontation and insult? Why be angry? Let others be the ones who are angry. We have right on our side, so, let's see what the will of the people is.

He made this statement as he peppered the the interview with,

"If Felipe Calderón intends to impose his will in the manner that we have seen, via fraud and a hate campaign in order to gain his objective, it's not difficult to imagine how he would govern: without legitimacy, without scruples, without morals, without principles, without anything."

(and)

He repeated his accusation that President Fox had fooled the people, that he was a traitor to democracy and that the administration had committed a treacherous act by ascending to the presidency through democratic means and then trying to roll it all back.

Ok, then, no "insults" and no "anger" from AMLO.

Please visit the Pale Horse Galleries online store
for art, gifts and collectables -- all hand made
by Mexican indigenous artists.
Thanks!
TAGS: Mexico election, AMLO, Fox