Presidential candidate Felipe Calderon from the National Action raises his hand after saying independent exit polls showed him ahead in Mexico City, July 2, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    

Presidential candidate Felipe Calderon from the National Action Party (PAN) talks to the media after casting his ballot during the presidential election in Mexico City July 2, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

MEXICO CITY, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The National Action Party (PAN) of incumbent President Vicente Fox looks set to be Mexico's strongest political force, according to preliminary data published by the Federal Election Agency (IFE).

    If the preliminary results are confirmed by more detailed vote counts, PAN will hold the presidency as well as legislative majorities.

    PAN's presidential candidate Felipe Calderon won 36.38 percent of the vote, slightly ahead of the 35.34 percent claimed by left-winger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD).

    The IFE said on Sunday that the presidential vote was so tied that it would perform a full manual recount beginning on Wednesday.

    Roberto Madrazo of the Institutional Revolution Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico for 71 years, took the third place with early results giving him less than 22 percent.

    Mexico appoints its president with a first-past-the-post system, with no minimum percentage required to win the top post. Preliminary results also indicate that PAN will dominate the Senate with 33.93 percent of the vote. The PRD and the PRI respectively rank second and third with 29.77 percent and 27.42 percent.

    When it comes to deputies, PAN again leads with 33.7 percent, followed by the PRD which takes just over 29 percent. The PRI trails behind with 27.66 percent.

    However, with the parliamentary seats so closely distributed, the ruling party will have to seek alliance to get any important legislation passed which requires a majority of votes in both houses.

    Mexico's two newly formed parties fared badly but remained alive.

    The Alternative Democratic Party secured less than 3 percent of the presidential vote. However, it earned more than the 2 percent minimum to remain a legally registered party.

    The New Alliance won less than 1 percent of the presidential vote, but obtained more than 4 percent in the Senate race and nearly 5 percent of the vote for deputies.

    On Tuesday, the PRD complained that more than 3.5 million votes from the boxes of some 13,000 polling stations were ignored by the first count that gave Calderon the lead in the presidential election.

    The PRD called on the IFE to recount the vote exhaustively, citing alleged irregularities. Enditem