2nd Candidate Claims Victory in Mexico Vote

A second presidential candidate declared himself the winner in Mexico’s fiercely disputed election Saturday, setting up a potential political confrontation when official results are released today.

The announcement by Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, a leftist politician whose fast-growing campaign surprised Mexico’s political establishment and citizens alike, was at once solemn and sensational.

“I am conscious of the magnitude and consequences (of this announcement). We have won the presidential election,” he said, speaking in the garden of his mother’s home in a wealthy Mexico City neighborhood.

Gives Himself Plurality

Cardenas released his own vote tallies to back his case, giving himself a 38% plurality of the vote. Moreover, he claimed that he possesses information from “sources inside the government” proving that he should be Mexico’s next president. He declined to produce names or documents.

The first candidate to claim victory in the election was Carlos Salinas de Gortari, of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, who made his statement last Thursday, a day after the polls closed. Since then, the government has released official, if only partial returns, to back Salinas’ claim. The latest official results show Salinas leading with almost 49% of the vote after a count of more than one-third of the polls. Cardenas was credited with 27%.

Cardenas dismissed these figures, saying that if Salinas takes office, “it would be the technical equivalent of a coup d ‘ etat .”

A third candidate in the running, conservative Manuel J. Clouthier, has said he is leading but stopped short of claiming victory. According to the government numbers, Clouthier has 19% of the vote.

Cardenas’ announcement was unexpected. Since election day, Cardenas has charged massive fraud in the vote count. He had criticized Salinas both for having declared victory and for releasing partial results to prove it.

But with more of the returns due today, and Salinas dominating the news with his own declarations, Cardenas had to make a move, political observers here say.

“I don’t see that Cardenas had any choice. If he thinks he won and that the government wants to steal it from him, then he has go all the way,” said Jorge Castaneda, an economist and political columnist.

The question becomes: Will Cardenas call on his numerous backers to support his claim in the streets? On Saturday, at least, Cardenas was cautious. He invited his backers to hold vigils at vote-counting stations around the country to guard against fraud.

“The only arbiter of this process is the people of Mexico,” Cardenas said. He warned that if the election is stolen, Mexico could “fall into a situation of ungovernability.”

Cardenas is the son of the late Gen. Lazaro Cardenas, one of Mexico’s most popular presidents. Cardenas, 54, broke from the PRI last year after losing a fight to gain its presidential nomination. He is supported by a panoply of leftist parties and regional groups.

A spokesman for Salinas, Juan Enriquez, belittled Cardenas’ announcement. “I think he is very wrong. I don’t think he has the results to prove it,” he said.

Cardenas’ declaration appeared to be part of an effort by all three candidates to jockey for position. Maneuvering has been intense since the polls closed Wednesday.

In the past, post-electoral conflicts in Mexico were settled by a process called a componenda --back-room negotiations in which political offices are traded in return for peace and quiet.

But the PRI suffered unprecedented reverses at the ballot box this time, and its officials seem in no mood to horse-trade. Salinas insists that although his vote was low, the results released by the government are the real ones.

Privately, high government officials are saying that Salinas’ total could reach 55% or more when final results are announced. In six decades of PRI rule, none of its candidates has ever received less than 70% of the vote.

The main opposition parties, confident after a strong showing, are pressing their claims to the presidency rather than discussing a lesser settlement.

Hours before Cardenas’ announcement, Clouthier, the candidate of the National Action Party, held a march for thousands of his supporters in downtown Mexico City. Clouthier is complaining that the vote was entirely fraudulent. At a rally in the Zocalo, Mexico’s City’s main square, Clouthier called for a referendum on the election.

In answer to charges of fraud, Jorge de la Vega, president of the ruling party, promised to “defend its (the PRI’s) legal and unquestionable triumph with all the weapons of the law.” His statement was seen as a sign that, from the PRI’s point of view, there is little to negotiate with the opposition.