adminPena Nieto declared victory in the presidential election late on Sunday, after poll monitors announced official results showing him with 38 percent of the vote, ending more than a decade in the political wilderness for the PRI.
The winner’s nearest rival, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), took 31 percent according to initial results, but was refusing to concede the race.
The centre-left PRI was synonymous with the Mexican state as it governed for seven decades until 2000 using a mixture of patronage and selective repression — isolating political foes through bought elections and skewed media coverage.
Current President Felipe Calderon’s ruling right-wing National Action Party (Pan) was third, hemorrhaging support due to the brutal drug war that has claimed more than
50 000 lives since he came to power in 2006.
“If these results are confirmed . . . Pena Nieto will be named president elect, and starting December 1, will be the next president of the republic,” Calderon said minutes after the early official results were out.
“I want to sincerely congratulate him,” said Calderon.
“My government is fully prepared to collaborate with his team to guarantee that the change of administration takes place in an orderly, transparent and efficient manner.”
Elated by his poll triumph, the dapper, perfectly-coifed Pena Nieto, 45, entered the PRI headquarters in Mexico City to a hero’s welcome after the results were announced by the independent Federal Electoral Institute (IFE). — AFP.
Online Reporter