Mexicans elect their president, Lopez Obrador a favorite

Mexicans elect their president, Lopez Obrador great favorite
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AFP
/ ALFREDO ESTRELLA

Overwhelmed by corruption and violence, Mexicans voted Sunday to elect their president, with leftist candidate Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, who promised a "real change" on the subject. [19659003Inacountryplaguedbydrugcartelsarecord25000murderswererecordedin2017andthepublichastheimpressionthatthetraditionalpoliticalclbadunderminedbycorruptionscandalsisdoingnothingtostopthisscourge19659003] The election campaign was also "the bloodiest" in the history of Mexico, with at least 145 badbadinations of politicians according to Etellekt research firm.

At 64, "AMLO", as it is nicknamed, has capitalized on the general exasperation by presenting itself as the anti-system candidate who would chase "the mafia of power" by taking over from the unpopular Enrique Peña Nieto. Result: he is more than 20 points ahead of his main competitors in the polls

On Sunday morning, he smiled at his polling station in Mexico, making his hand the V of victory.

"It's a historic day" and "we represent the possibility of a real change, a transformation, that's why this day is important," he told the crowd of journalists who came to expect him

"We will succeed in this transformation without violence, in a peaceful way, there will be an orderly but profound change, because we will ban bribery, the main problem of Mexico", promised the one who was already presented twice in the election, unsuccessfully, and is defined as "stubborn".

Behind him, the young conservative Ricardo Anaya, 39, boasts his "modernity" at the head of a coalition right and left-wing, wanting to be more inspired by Silicon Valley than by Cicicans of Mexican Politics

Third in the polls, Jose Antonio Meade, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI, right), an independent chosen by the ruling party, suffers precisely from the image of corruption and patronage of the party of outgoing president.

18,000 renewed mandates

"Everything seems to indicate that Obrador will be the winner," told AFP Gustavo Felix, a 56-year-old taxi driver. "I only hope that he will not be the big winner also in Parliament, because otherwise we will live in dictatorship."

In addition to the presidential term, the 89 million Mexican voters renew indeed more than 18,000 mandates, including 500 MPs and 128 Senators, as well as many regional and local posts.

The first official results are expected around 0400 GMT Monday.

If the predictions are confirmed, the elections will mark a turning point in Mexican politics.

"What is certain is that the party system "Lombards," said Lopez Obrador, a coalition led by Duncan Wood, director of the Institute of Mexico at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

The violence is such that many Mexicans are afraid of to go to the polls: "We do not know if we will come back alive", worried Margarita Rodarte, a woman of Ciudad Juarez (north), one of the most violent cities of the country.

"austere Government"

In response, AMLO, former mayor of Mexico City (2000-2005), promises to reduce the poverty that makes the bed of cartels and fight corruption to finance social programs.

He proposes a " austere government without luxury or privilege "that will reduce by 50% the salaries of senior officials, including his own, and promises to turn into a cultural center Los Pinos presidential residence," haunted "according to him because of bad waves.

many Mexicans and badysts criticize his lack of concrete proposals and his "populist" rhetoric, fearing that he will drag the country into the path of Venezuela.

"His speech and his way to power are not very different from Trump or Chavez (…). Unfortunately, Lopez Obrador could also exercise power through this type of speech, "commented AFP political badyst Fernando Dworak, referring to the US and Venezuelan presidents.

Many wonder about the relationship he could have with Donald Trump on issues as crucial as the migration crisis or the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The US President, one of the main campaign promises was to 'erecting a wall on the border with Mexico, showed on Sunday that he was attentive to the vote. "We are going to have an election. It's going to be so interesting, "he said, predicting that whoever succeeds President Peña Nieto" is going to be fine, and the reason for that is if they are not very good. " 19659003] yo-ml-se-ka / fjb

01/07/2018 20:59:04 –
Mexico (AFP) –
© 2018 AFP