Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MEXICO4368
2006-08-07 18:11:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Mexico
Cable title:  

ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL CALLS FOR PARTIAL RECOUNT

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR MX 
pdf how-to read a cable
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FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 004368 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR MX
SUBJECT: ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL CALLS FOR PARTIAL RECOUNT

REF: MEXICO 3422

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 004368

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR MX
SUBJECT: ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL CALLS FOR PARTIAL RECOUNT

REF: MEXICO 3422


1. (SBU) Summary: In a unanimous August 5 decision,
Mexico's Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) rejected the Democratic
Revolutionary Party's (PRD) request for a complete,
nationwide recount of the results of the July 2 presidential
election, ordering instead a recount in the 11,839 precincts
(casillas) in which it found the PRD's impugnations to meet
the statutory criteria for a recount. This partial recount
is to begin on August 9 and must be completed within five
days. As expected, PRD presidential candidate Andres Manuel
Lopez Obrador (AMLO) immediately rejected the TEPJF's
decision, and invited his supporters to an "informational
meeting" to be held August 7 outside the TEPJF headquarters.
Although the TEPJF's decision brings the determination of the
final election result one step closer, AMLO's initial
response indicates we may be no closer to a resolution of the
political stand-off surrounding the results. End summary.
.

Tribunal Sticks to the Law
--------------


2. (U) In an August 5 decision approved by all seven
magistrates, the TEPJF rejected the PRD's request for a
nationwide recount, ordering instead a limited recount in
11,839 of the precincts impugned by the PRD, those in which
the TEPJF found that the legal standard for a recount was
met. The 11,839 precincts subject to the recount are spread
among 149 of Mexico's 300 electoral districts and 26 of its
32 states (including the Federal District),and they are
concentrated in districts won by Felipe Calderon. The
precincts selected for recount were those in which the PRD
demonstrated obvious errors in the original count. They did
not include districts in which the PRD alleged irregularities
unrelated to the vote count, such as the allegedly improper
substitution of poll workers and the alleged exclusion of PRD
representatives from certain polling places. The TEPJF
ordered the recount to begin on August 9 and to be completed
within a span of five days. It will be conducted by IFE
district officials in the IFE's corresponding 149 district
offices, although federal judicial officials will supervise
the recount in each district. Each political party is
permitted to send one representative to observe the recount

in each district.


3. (U) In rejecting the PRD's request for a nationwide
recount, the TEPJF observed that the PRD did not specifically
impugn every election district or precinct. It ruled that a
complainant must specifically impugn all precincts or
districts for the TEPJF to be able to consider ordering a
nationwide recount. Where a complainant fails to impugn the
results in a particular electoral district or precinct, the
count in that jurisdiction is considered final and not
subject to recount. It rejected the PRD's argument that
alleged irregularities in the count in one precinct could
call into question the count in other precincts. The TEPJF
also dismissed as irrelevant to the issue of a recount many
of the specific grounds cited by the PRD in its complaint,
including the alleged interference of President Fox in the
campaign, the alleged misuse of GOM social programs for
political ends, and excessive campaign spending, among
others, noting that there was no causal relationship between
those factors and possible irregularities in the vote count.
.

Tribunal President Defends Electoral System
--------------


4. (U) Before asking for a vote on his proposed decision,
TEPJF President Leonel Castillo launched into an impassioned
defense of the credibility of Mexico's federal electoral
system. Responding to the PRD's argument that the results of
the election failed to fulfill the constitutional principle
of "certainty," Castillo argued that the Mexican electoral
code contemplates that such certainty is guaranteed by having
the votes counted by randomly selected and trained citizens.
Gesticulating emphatically, he added that the electoral code
incorporates numerous overlapping safeguards -- including the
right of political parties to observe every step of the
voting and vote counting process -- to ensure the certainty
and transparency of the results.
.

PRD Legal Team Storms Out of Courtroom
--------------

MEXICO 00004368 002 OF 002




5. (U) As the TEPJF Secretary General read the first part of
the proposed decision, in which the TEPJF rejected the PRD's
arguments in favor of a complete recount, PRD legal advisor
Ricardo Monreal shook his head in disagreement. As soon as
the Secretary General read the portion of the decision in
which the TEPJF rejected a nationwide recount, Monreal and
PRD Senator-elect Arturo Nunez defiantly left the courtroom.
Shortly thereafter, the sounds of car horns and chanting
protesters could be heard outside the courtroom. Once the
two hour hearing ended, the approximately 100 protesters
outside the TEPJF grew even louder, accusing the magistrates
of having been bought off. Out of concern for their safety,
security guards prevented observers (including poloff) from
leaving the TEPJF compound for approximately 40 minutes,
until the protesters announced that they did not intend to
trap observers inside, and that they would permit them to
leave unmolested.
.

AMLO Rejects Decision, Calls for Protests to Continue
-------------- --------------


6. (U) Later on August 5, AMLO told his supporters assembled
in the Zocalo that he rejected the TEPJF's decision, which he
characterized as "narrow," "legally weak," and "lacking
sufficient and decent argumentation." He called for his
supporters to continue their "peaceful civil disobedience."
In remarks to his supporters on August 6, he announced that
he would hold an "informative meeting" outside the TEPJF's
headquarters on Monday, August 7. Other AMLO supporters
announced they would start sending protesters to all of
President Fox's public events, to urge a nationwide recount.
In contrast, the PAN announced that it accepted the TEPJF's
decision, as did the PRI and Patricia Mercado's Social
Democratic and Peasant Alternative Party.
.

Comment: TEPJF Resists Public Pressure
--------------


7. (SBU) In rejecting the PRD's request for a nationwide
recount and ordering a partial recount only in those
precincts specifically and effectively impugned by the PRD,
the TEPJF demonstrated its determination to apply the
electoral code strictly, and to resist public pressure. The
unanimous nature of the decision should strengthen its
credibility in the eyes of the mainstream public and appears
intended to reassert the integrity of Mexico's electoral
system. Presiding Magistrate Castillo's closing remarks
confirmed our impression that the PRD failed to assemble a
well-documented case and did not offer proof of
irregularities in the great majority of precincts.
Accordingly, we cannot help but conclude that the PRD has
focused far more effort in convincing its supporters, rather
than the TEPJF, of the rightness of its cause. As a result,
AMLO's distrust of government institutions appears to have
become a self-fulfilling prophecy.


Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity

GARZA