ThisisBigBrother.com - UK TV Forums - Mexico hands leftist Lopez Obrador Presidential win

Mexican voters angry and frustrated over corruption and violence delivered an emphatic victory to leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the presidential election.

The win gives him a broad mandate to upend the political establishment and govern for the poor.

An official quick count from electoral authorities late on Sunday forecast that Mr Lopez Obrador would win with between 53% and 53.8% of the votes, a remarkable margin not seen in the country for many years.

Early on Monday, with about 20% of the votes counted, his advantage was close to the quick count’s statistical sample.

A prominent exit poll predicted that his party allies were poised to score big victories in congressional races, possibly winning absolute majorities in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

Mr Lopez Obrador, who campaigned on vows to transform Mexico and oust the “mafia of power” ruling the country, rode widespread voter anger and discontent with the governing Institutional Revolution Party, or PRI, of President Enrique Pena Nieto and had led opinion polls since the beginning of the campaign.

The PRI, which dominated Mexican politics for nearly the entire 20th century and recaptured the presidency in 2012, was set to suffer heavy losses not just in the presidential race but in other polls as well.

In brief remarks at a hotel in central Mexico City, Mr Lopez Obrador called for reconciliation after a polarising campaign and promised profound change but with respect for the law and constitutional order.

“I confess that I have a legitimate ambition: I want to go down in history as a good president of Mexico,” he said, after losses in the previous two elections. “I desire with all my soul to raise the greatness of our country on high.”

The president-in-waiting, whose term will begin on December 1, devoted much of his speech to appealing to citizens of all stripes and seeking to reassure those who have eyed his candidacy nervously.

“This new national project will seek to establish an authentic democracy and we do not intend to establish a dictatorship,” he said. “The changes will be profound, but in accordance with established order.”

Conservative Ricardo Anaya, of a right-left coalition, and the PRI’s Jose Antonio Meade acknowledged defeat shortly after polls closed nationwide. The quick count had them on around 22% and 16% respectively.

Mr Lopez Obrador’s supporters began wild celebrations in Mexico City, cruising up and down the central Paseo de la Reforma boulevard honking horns to the tune of “Viva Mexico!” and waving Mexican flags from car windows and sunroofs.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/...ntial-win.html