Lopez Obrador Hailed as Mexico's `Legitimate' Leader at Rally

by Patrick Harrington

Mexico's losing presidential contender, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, vowed to form his own government as thousands of supporters hailed him as the ``legitimate'' president at a rally in the capital.

Lopez Obrador, who finished second in the country's July 2 presidential elections to governing-party candidate Felipe Calderon, said he would name his own cabinet. Supporters will swear in Lopez Obrador as Mexico's alternative president Nov. 20, he said.

``We are going to reject the government of the usurper,'' said Lopez Obrador, 52. ``We are going to work toward forming a new republic.''

Today's rally, called a ``national democratic convention'' by Lopez Obrador, marks a transition to a new form protest. Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor, yesterday halted a 47-day blockade of the capital's main boulevard and central square, which he had organized to pressure authorities to overturn election results.

Mexico's top election court on Sept. 5 certified Calderon as president-elect, ruling he beat Lopez Obrador by 0.6 percent, or 233,831 votes out of 41.6 million cast. It was closest race in Mexico's history.

Lopez Obrador, who alleges he lost the election because of fraud, said Aug. 27 that a clause in Mexico's constitution gives the people the right to change their government at any moment. During today's rally, ``delegates'' elected Lopez Obrador president by raising their hands.

Only Option

``The only option Lopez Obrador has open to him is to try and rule from the streets,'' James Wilkie, a history professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, said in a telephone interview. ``It seems he would rather try to rule from the streets now than to wait six year and run again for president.''

Ana Maria Herrera, 59, said she had come to elect Lopez Obrador president because, as Mexico City mayor, he had provided her disabled daughter with a monthly stipend.

``The people will never accept Calderon as president,'' she said. ``Lopez Obrador was elected by the people.''

Lopez Obrador's decision to form an alternative government could hamper Calderon's ability to govern, said Juan Lindau, chair of the political science department at Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

``If Mexico faces any kind macroeconomic problem in the next few years, from falling oil prices to a slowdown in the U.S. economy that affects Mexico's exports, Lopez Obrador's movement could grow,'' he said in a telephone interview.

To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Harrington in Mexico City at pharrington8@bloomberg.net