MEXICO CITY (AP) - A spokeswoman for leftist legislators from Mexico City said Wednesday they would recognize conservative Felipe Calderon as president-elect, despite orders to shun him as part of protests over the July 2 election their party claims was fraudulent.
Nancy Cardenas said she was making the statement on behalf of the dominant 34-member delegation of the Democratic Revolution Party in the legislature representing the capital - a stronghold of party ex-presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. "We are going to recognize Calderon because he is going to take office on Dec. 1 as president of the republic, but it doesn't mean that we agree with his platform," Cardenas told reporters, according to a transcript of her remarks distributed to news media.
Asked if her comments reflected the opinion of all or only some of the 34 Democratic Revolution lawmakers from Mexico City, she responded, "It's the position of the group." In a later telephone interview with The Associated Press, Cardenas said that at "no time have I said that Felipe Calderon is a legitimate president," adding that "our legitimate president is Andres Manuel." But she also said that "we (lawmakers) are part of an institution and we have to act within the legal framework that governs us."
Meanwhile, national Democratic Revolution spokesman Gerardo Fernandez told the AP the party position "is that we're not recognizing the election and this hasn't changed." "What Nancy Cardenas said was her own opinion," he added. |