MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

PAN, PRI accept Mexico tribunal decision for partial vote recount

The representative of Felipe Calderon's National Action Party, to the nation's electoral organizations, G. Martinez, accepted Saturday the Mexican electoral tribunal's decision to carry out a partial recount of ballots from the July 2 presidential election.

"We agree with a recount of those votes that the court has decided," Martinez said minutes after the TEPJF, Mexico's highest electoral tribunal, decided not to proceed with a total recount.

The partial recount of 11,839 of the 130,477 polling places installed on Election Day will begin on Aug. 9 and will take a maximum five days to complete.

Martinez said on behalf of the PAN that the party trusted the partial recount would "clearly show the victory" of conservative Felipe Calderon.

In statements to the press when he emerged from the TEPJF, he again mentioned Calderon's position of maintaining a dialogue with the coalition of leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who had challenged the election results and demanded a total recount.

"Felipe Calderon's call for talks is sincere and authentic - we are again reaching out to establish a dialogue," he said, and added that the reasons offered by the tribunal for its decision "are the right ones." At a press conference held later, PAN official Cesar Nava said he expected an attitude of "observance and calm" from the leftist coalition after the electoral tribunal's ruling.

"This is a chance for Mr. Lopez Obrador to show his democratic character and his commitment to legality. We would hope that his words and his conduct show absolute respect for the tribunal's decision," Nava said.

The party official said he trusted the judges' decision "would not exacerbate the spirits of the leftist coalition." Meanwhile the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, also accepted Saturday the TEPJF decision ruling out a total recount of the votes.

The partial recount approved Saturday meant "a correct interpretation of the procedures established in the Federal Institutions and Electoral Procedures Law (Cofipe)," the PRI said in a communique. The PRI said that the decision to count "such a high number of ballots" will validate the election, the closest in recent Mexican history.

The coalition of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is expected to announce its position on the tribunal's decision in the coming hours.

In the July 2 presidential elections, the rightist Felipe Calderon won 234,934 votes or 0.58 percentage points more than the leftist Lopez Obrador, who challenged the results before the TEPJF.