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| Mexican presidential
candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party
(PRD) (R) and President Vicente Fox(L) cast their votes in the
general elections at a polling station in the Mexico City, July 2, 2006.
The presidential and congressional elections of Mexico began on
Sunday. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) |
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BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhuanet) -- In a tight
presidential race in Mexico Sunday, voters were bitterly divided between a
leftist offering himself as a savior to the poor and a conservative warning his
rival's free-spending proposals threaten the economy.
Mexico's 71 million voters are choosing between ex-
Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, 52, who advocates "profound
change" to help improve conditions for the nation's poor, and Felipe Calderon,
43, of President Vicente Fox's National Action Party.
Three other candidates, including Roberto Madrazo,
53, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, also are running.
Exit polls showed the result was too close to call.
Pre-election poll leaders showed Felipe Calderon of the ruling party and Andres
Manuel Lopez Obrador, the left-wing former mayor of Mexico City, in a virtual
tie.
The election may decide whether Mexico continues on a
path that helped reduce inflation, erase a budget deficit and lure investment
since 2000 -- or adopts Lopez Obrador's strategy of higher government spending
aimed at creating jobs and addressing the nation's income disparities.
Calderon, a stiff Harvard-educated lawyer and
economist, has promised to create millions of jobs with pro-business reforms,
more foreign investment and a boom in construction and housebuilding.
Lopez Obrador was the red-hot favorite for most of
the campaign but Calderon closed the gap with aggressive TV ads painting his
rival as a danger to Mexico's economic stability and linking him to Venezuela's
anti-U.S. firebrand President Hugo Chavez.
Electoral officials were conducting a quick count of the
votes, and were hoping to declare a winner soon. If it is unable to call a
winner, Mexico could face days or weeks of legal wrangling and protests similar
to the fight that followed the U.S. presidential election in 2000.
President Vicente Fox took office after the historic
victory pledging fast and far-reaching reforms.
Hopes ran high but Fox failed to deliver on his
promises of rapid economic growth and millions of new jobs, and opposition
parties in Congress blocked his economic reform program.
He was barred under Mexico's constitution from
seeking reelection. Enditem
(Agencies)
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