What do you think of López Obrador’s refusal to accept Peña Nieto as President and his announcement that he will engage in civil disobedience? [Op-ed discussion, in Spanish]

Animal Politico, El Palenque, 9/4/12

In this debate forum Marco Rascon, Javier Garza, Javier Trevino, Leonardo Curzio and Tatiana Clouthier (among others) comment on López Obrador’s decision.  Opinions range from “AMLO is correct in protesting the TEPJF ruling” to “it is lamentable that the country is revisiting the same situation it was in 6 years ago.”

Follow the rest of the discussion here…

Mexico’s Lopez Obrador rejects presidential poll ruling

BBC, 8/31/12

Mexico’s presidential runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has refused to recognise a court ruling upholding July’s election and called for a mass demonstration.

The left-winger said the country’s highest electoral tribunal made an illegitimate decision…

The former Mexico City mayor also called on his supporters to hold a demonstration in the capital’s main square on 9 September.

Earlier, all seven judges on the Federal Electoral Tribunal voted to reject the runner-up’s accusations.

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Mexico’s electoral court set to confirm Pena Nieto victory

Chicago Tribune, 8/28/12

Enrique Peña Nieto

Electoral officials told Reuters the ruling is due by Thursday or Friday, although the court has until September 6 to decide on Lopez Obrador’s charges. Officials have told Reuters privately they do not expect Pena Nieto’s win to be overturned.The court said in a statement it had distributed a draft ruling to its seven member judges, but gave no details.

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I am the People [Opinion in Spanish]

Letras Libres, August 2012

In this article Krauze discusses López Obrador’s potential effects on Mexico should the Tribunal rule in his favor.  He says if this occurs it will damage Mexican democracy because AMLO does not believe in limited personal power, which is why he fundamentally is not a liberal but a populist, a caudillo in the style of Porfirio Díaz.  He says that the thinks this of López Obrador because of his rhetoric regarding the law (that is a way for the bourgeoisie to dominate the proletariat) and because for him the “people” are those who follow him, not everyone in the nation who has the right to vote.  He says that this might be worse than the PRI’s long time in power because they had some limits on personal power, in that they had institutional limits on the amount of power a president could have even if he went too far with his own personality cult…

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The Tribunal Orders a Recount of a Thousand Ballot Boxes [in Spanish]

El Universal, 8/3/12

The TEPJF ordered a recount of 1,109 ballot boxes.  The recount will occur on the 8th of August starting at 9 am.  They will not be recounting all the ballot boxes, just those involved in the electoral allegations.

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Brief Update on Mexico’s July 1st Election.

By Eric L. Olson and Gabriella Ippolito

On July 1^st 2012 Mexicans went to the polls in record numbers to elect a new President, 128 Senators, 500 congressional representatives (Deputies) six governors and the Mayor of Mexico City.   According to the official results certified by Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI) received the most votes for president with 38.2%, followed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador (PRD/PT) with 31.6%, Josefina Vázquez Mota (PAN) with 25.4%, and Gabriel Quadri (PANAL) with 2.29%.

But despite these results, the story is not over yet.  Representatives from all three parties have filed complaints with Mexico’s Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) alleging that campaign laws were violated.  That means that despite receiving numerous congratulatory calls from foreign  heads of state (including President Obama), and being received by current president Felipe Calderón at the presidential office at Los Pinos to discuss the transition, Enrique Peña Nieto cannot be considered Mexico’s president-elect until the TEPJF rules on the various allegations.

The beginning of change [in Spanish]

Reforma, Enrique Peña Nieto, 7/16/12

Enrique Peña Nieto

In this op-ed, which was published in Reforma, Peña affirms that his party received an electoral mandate to govern Mexico, and says that he is sure that the TEPJF will rule in that manner.   He says that one of his first goals is to speak with civil society to get their input on his reforms for the nation so as to make Mexico a more democratic society, and sets out three initiatives which he wants to accomplish his first days in office.  These are: to promote the creation of a National Anti-Corruption Commission, to ensure transparency throughout all levels of government, and to create an autonomous association of citizens which can oversee media and publicity contacts made by the government so as to ensure that the people have access to the most transparent and free media possible.  He said that he and his transition team are also discussing economic which will be revealed to the Congress in time.  Finally he concludes by saying that he will respect the law, and will wait until his official confirmation as president-elect before announcing the rest of his transition team.

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TEPJF annuls Morelia election (In Spanish)

Reforma, 12/28/2011

El TEPJF determinó anular esta madrugada la elección en el Municipio de Morelia ante las graves irregularidades encontradas en el proceso electoral.

Por mayoría, la Sala Regional del Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación (TEPJF), con sede en Toluca, consideró que hubo violaciones al Artículo 41 de la Constitución…

Se consideraron como graves faltas la aparición de Lázaro en la transmisión por televisión de paga del cierre de campaña del candidato a Gobernador por el PRI y PVEM, Fausto Vallejo.

Así como la aparición del boxeador Juan Manuel Márquez con propaganda del tricolor en una pelea de box que se transmitió a nivel nacional un día antes de la jornada electoral.

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