Mexico’s Ruling Party, Foes Both Claim Victory in Baja

Leaders of Mexico’s ruling party and of the strongest opposition party both declared victory Monday in Baja California’s hotly contested governor’s race, setting the stage for what could be a protracted and historic battle over the results of Sunday’s elections.

The outcome, to be decided next Sunday, when official results are released by a nominally independent electoral commission, could be extremely significant, as the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party has never lost a governor’s seat during its six-decade dominance of Mexican politics.

Meantime, the ruling party, known as the PRI, also claimed victories in three of the other four states that held elections for new legislatures and mayors Sunday, and opposition leaders from left and right accused the PRI of committing fraud.

Michoacan Complaints

In the hotly contested race in Michoacan, the opposition matched the PRI’s claim of victory. Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, leader of the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party and a native son of Michoacan, announced that his party was leading in 15 of the 18 district legislature races. The PRI, conceding that Cardenas was ahead in four districts, insisted it was ahead in 11.

Both sides complained of voting irregularities in Michoacan. The only thing on which both agreed was that there had been a low voter turnout and no major incidents of violence.

If the opposition wins the Baja governorship--a victory that many still consider unthinkable--it will be in large part because thousands of volunteers were on the lookout during Sunday’s voting for the electoral sleight of hand that is customary in Mexico.

Late Sunday, the PRI announced a “clean and indisputable” triumph for its gubernatorial nominee, Margarita Ortega Villa, a 38-year-old party loyalist who has served in a variety of electoral posts, most recently as a federal senator in Mexico City. However, the party cited results from only one-tenth of Baja’s almost 1,200 voting precincts, and some veteran political observers here detected more than a hint of doubt in the PRI’s pronouncements.

By contrast, there was an air of jubilation Monday at the headquarters of the opposition National Action Party in Tijuana, the state’s largest city. The party, known as PAN, said its gubernatorial candidate, Ernesto Ruffo Appel, had won some 84,000 votes, compared to 47,000 for the PRI’s nominee, according to results from precincts including more than 90% of Tijuana’s voters. The PAN said it had won Ensenada by a more than 2-to-1 margin and was running even with the PRI in Mexicali, the state capital.

Palpable Excitement

Throughout Monday there was palpable excitement--and, on the part of the PRI, considerable concern--over the possibility of a PAN victory in Baja. The question being discussed among journalists and political experts here is whether President Carlos Salinas de Gortari will be willing to lose direct control of Baja, which is strategically situated on the U.S.-Mexico border and boasts a booming tourism and assembly-plant industry. In Mexico’s heavily centralized system, governors have long served as the president’s personal representatives. Salinas handpicked Ortega, the PRI gubernatorial candidate.

The PRI had begun a victory party at its Tijuana headquarters, but the mariachis had long departed by the time a seemingly shaken Bernardez Sanchez Rios, president of the local PRI campaign, emerged from behind closed doors to announce a “tendency” for victory. Frustrated Mexican journalists waiting outside had broken into a chant of “Information!” “Information!”

A mile away, at the school where the electoral results from Tijuana were being collected, buoyant PAN supporters gathered in the early morning darkness broke into chants of “Ruffo!””Ruffo!” with every favorable report from precinct captains.

Inside the school grounds, opposition leaders of the left and right aired various charges of fraud against the PRI. Among other things, they alleged that opposition observers had been denied access to voting places, that PRI loyalists had been permitted to vote numerous times and that several previously unscheduled voting sites were added at the last minute without their knowledge.

PRI officials, while defending the integrity of the vote, also charged that PAN loyalists had been involved in a number of irregularities, including the use of false credentials.

Turnout in the election was believed to be lighter than expected, perhaps less than half of the state’s 880,000 registered voters.

While the governor’s seat was the most important post at stake, voters also chose four mayors and 15 new state legislators in Baja. In addition, state legislatures were chosen in Campeche and Zacatecas states, and some mayors’ posts were on the ballot in Chihuahua.

Times staff writer Marjorie Miller, in Michoacan, also contributed to this story.