Felipe Calderón seemed virtually assured of being designated president of Mexico next week after the country's highest electoral tribunal on Monday threw out legal challenges from his leftist opponent, who claims that widespread fraud warped the results of last month's national election. The seven-member tribunal stopped short of officially designating Mr. Calderón, a conservative, president-elect. But it ruled unanimously that the opponent, Ándres Manuel López Obrador, had failed to prove that irregularities in many polling places stemmed from fraud, nor had he proven that the errors affected him more than his opponent.| With this decision the constitutional order is broken and the road is opened for an usurper to occupy the presidency through a coup détat... |
Mr. López Obrador, 53, a former mayor of Mexico City who favors spending more on the poor, has declared he will not accept the ruling, calling it part of a conspiracy to rob him of victory.
Speaking Monday evening in a rainstorm, Mr. López Obrador scoffed at the ruling, called his political opponents criminals and said Mr. Calderón had usurped his rightful victory. Today the electoral tribunal decided to validate the fraud against the citizens will and decided to back the criminals who robbed us of the presidential election, he said. With this decision, he added, the constitutional order is broken and the road is opened for an usurper to occupy the presidency through a coup détat.