Opposing Parties Continue Battle as Baja’s Ballot Tally Pokes Along

Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party and its principal opposition continued to battle today for control of the Baja California state legislature, while the opposition gained a historic triumph in the Tijuana mayoral race.

In that booming border city that is the state’s most populous and most dynamic, the ruling party recognized the victory of Carlos Montejo Favela, a longtime banker and financial consultant who ran under the blue-and-white banner of the opposition National Action Party, or PAN.

In final results released late Monday, Montejo received 79,908 votes, to 56,255 for Gustavo Almaraz Montano, the ruling party’s candidate.

A First in Tijuana

Montejo, who takes office Dec. 1, along with nine PAN City Council representatives, will be the first-ever opposition mayor of Tijuana, a city of about 1.5 million people. The recognition of his election sparked jubilation among the city’s PAN supporters.

Meanwhile, as the official vote count from the July 2 election continued at an extremely deliberate pace, there was still no concrete word on the election’s most significant outcome: the apparent victory of the PAN candidate, Ernesto Ruffo Appel, in the governor’s race--the key post being contested.

Ruffo--the 37-year-old, U.S.-born entrepreneur and former Ensenada mayor whose apparent election has sent shock waves through the Mexican political system, spent the day at an undisclosed “bunker” in Mexicali, the state capital.

The state’s likely new chief executive, who is scheduled to take office Nov. 1, would be the first-ever opposition governor in modern Mexico. The ruling party, known as the PRI, has never before recognized the loss of a governor’s seat.

PRI officials, however, have already conceded Ruffo’s likely victory. But many observers say they will not be convinced until his precedent-setting triumph is declared official.

Earlier, Ruffo charged that the PRI was using its considerable influence in the electoral counting process to reduce the PAN vote and retain control of the state legislature--a scenario, he said, that would cripple his six-year term as governor. State legislators from the most-populated districts also serve on the Electoral College, an important institution because of its role in ratifying election results, which are frequently disputed.

Illegal Means Denied

“It’s obvious that the PRI is using whatever means they can to diminish our vote,” Ruffo said.

PRI officials, long accused of electoral fraud and manipulation, have denied resorting to illegal means in their often proclaimed effort to “defend” every vote.

In fact, the PRI and PAN have exchanged charges and countercharges of electoral chicanery, with allegations ranging from stuffed to stolen ballot boxes, to heavy-handed intimidation, to the alleged outright kidnaping of one PRI precinct watcher--an allegation dismissed by the PAN.

Much of the attention here has focused on the race for the 15 contested seats in the Baja California legislature, which would be called on to execute the reforms likely to be launched by a Ruffo administration. A PRI-dominated body may well attempt to frustrate the new governor’s initiatives.

By late Tuesday, it appeared that results in 13 of the 15 elected legislative seats had been decided, with the PAN holding a slight edge, having emerged victorious in seven districts. The PRI has won six districts.

Four other legislative seats are automatically assigned to minority parties, resulting in a 19-member legislature.

No Position of Strength

Thus, neither the PRI or the PAN is in a position to secure the 10 votes needed for an absolute majority. But the PAN is expected to seek alliances with minority opposition parties in an effort to push its reforms.

Among the PAN legislative victories are all six seats representing Tijuana, as well as one slot from Ensenada.

The PRI, meantime, has secured four seats from Mexicali, a PRI bastion, as well as one from Ensenada and one from Tecate, a small city east of Tijuana.

The two still disputed seats are from Mexicali, and those elections are said to be very close.

In the Tecate mayoral race, the PRI apparently scored a narrow victory and is also expected to win the mayor’s seat in Mexicali. The PAN is considered the likely winner of the mayor’s race in Ensenada, the coastal city that is Ruffo’s hometown.