By Kieran Murray and Greg Brosnan
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Conservative presidential candidate Felipe Calderon won a narrow victory on Thursday in an election that divided Mexico, but his leftist rival vowed to fight the result in the courts and on the streets.
The Harvard-educated Calderon was elected with 35.88 percent of the vote and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a combative left-wing former Mexico City mayor, trailed close behind on 35.31 percent, final official results showed.
Lopez Obrador angrily claimed the election last Sunday was plagued with irregularities and pledged to fight it in Mexico's electoral tribunal.
He also called a rally of supporters in Mexico City's vast central square for Saturday, raising fears of street protests and further unrest as well as weeks of legal wrangling similar to that which followed the U.S. presidential election in 2000.
"We cannot recognize or accept these results," he said.
A relaxed Calderon led supporters in a noisy party at his ruling National Action Party's offices and immediately called on his adversaries to forget an ugly and fiercely contested election that has plunged Mexico into a political crisis.
"If the contest is behind us, our differences are behind us. Now is the hour for unity and agreements between Mexicans," said Calderon, a pro-U.S. former energy minister.
Calderon, 43, would be an ally of the United States in Latin America, where leftists have taken power in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela and turned away from Washington. Continued...
? Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-07-06T205752Z_01_N28358335_RTRUKOC_0_US-MEXICO-ELECTION.xml&src=rss&rpc=22
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