Mexico's Opposition Leader Calls For Alternative Government
Lopez Obrador, representing the Coalition for the Good of All in the presidential race, said that the current right-wing National Action Party (PAN) government was trying to impose its presidential candidate, Felipe Calderon, by fraud.
Official results of the July 2 presidential vote showed that Lopez Obrador lost by a mere 0.58 percentage points to Calderon.
Lopez Obrador, who believes the election were massively fraudulent, called on citizens to participate in a Sep. 16 event, the National Democratic Convention.
He described the convention as "a space to make the people's voices heard," which would "unite all the Mexicans who are free and determined to once-and-for-all end this unbearable oppression, misery and injustice from which our nation is suffering."
The country's electoral authority, the Electoral Tribunal, is due to rule on the disputed election by Aug. 31, and by Sep. 6, it will have to announce a president-elect, who is due to take over from incumbent President Vicente Fox on Dec. 1.
The Tribunal's decision would "define the depth and direction of our movement," Lopez Obrador told supporters, "if it validates the fraud, our duty as citizens is to bring an end to the political system based on this democratic farce."