Andrés Manuel López Obrador proclaimed that he is “persistent” and “guided by principles” in his first address after Mexico’s electoral court yesterday officially declared him president-elect.
The Morena party leader, who won the July 1 presidential election in a landslide, charged that “no temptation will take away my authenticity or divert my path in the search for humanism and fraternity.”
He also said that as president he will act with honesty and respect towards all of Mexico’s authorities and institutions.
“The president of the republic won’t have messenger pigeons or threatening hawks; no authorities responsible for imparting justice will be the object of pressure or illegal petitions when working on the analysis, preparation or execution of their rulings and there will be absolute respect for their verdicts,” López Obrador said.
“. . . The rule of law will only be strengthened with respectful and independent work,” he added.
The 64-year-old political veteran widely known as AMLO said the July 1 election showed that the democratic will of the people could renew and strengthen the nation’s institutions.
He called on all political actors as well as society at large to not waste the opportunity to carry out a transformation of Mexico because political conditions in the country have never been better to do so.
“We have broad bases of legitimacy to make a reality the collective desire to live in peace, with justice and liberty,” AMLO said.
“Mexican society demonstrated its composure and talent on July 1 . . . the majority of citizens are fed up with arrogance, influence, dishonesty and inefficiency, and wish with their entire souls to put an end to corruption and impunity. Millions of compatriots aspire to live in a better society, without the monstrous economic and social inequality we suffer from.”
Implementing polices to combat violence is another clear directive from the electorate, the president-elect said, pointing out that the problem is currently addressed almost exclusively through the use of force.
López Obrador said his government will change that approach and seek to build national reconciliation within a framework of well-being and justice.
Prospective public security secretary Alfonso Durazo has already signaled that the new government will gradually withdraw the military from security operations on the nation’s streets.
López Obrador said the electorate also expects politicians and government officials to be treated the same way under the law as any other citizen.
“Mexicans also voted to put an end to impositions and electoral fraud, and to demand equal punishment for corrupt politicians and common criminals . . . and to guarantee that justice is served,” he said.
Janine Otálora Malassis, president of the Federal Electoral Tribunal, said that violence had marred the electoral process but nevertheless the elections had been conducted in accordance with the constitution.
López Obrador will be sworn in on December 1 while the new Congress, with a Morena party-led coalition majority in both houses, will sit on September 1.
Later today, the president-elect will meet for the second time since July 1 with President Enrique Peña Nieto.
The meeting will mark the formal commencement of the transition process.
Source: Milenio (sp)
