Ex-mayor may be new president
STUBBORN LEFTIST IN THE LEAD
Among the many insults that have been hurled at Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as “Amlo”, the leftist who is the strong favourite to win Mexico’s presidential election tomorrow, is stubborn. He considers it a compliment.
He kicked off his third presidential bid vowing to use his headstrong personality to fight for the change so many Mexicans hunger for this year. “I will act as president ... stubbornly, obstinately, persistently, bordering on craziness, to wipe out corruption.”
Those close to him can vouch for that. “His main quality is his tenacity,” Mexican writer Paco Ignacio Taibo II said.
Lopez Obrador, 64, is one of the most divisive figures in Mexican politics: his critics hate him as much as his fans love him. But his vow to fight for a “radical turn” in Mexico have worked in a nation fed up with endless corruption scandals and a horrifically violent drug war.
The former Mexico City mayor leads his rivals by more than 20 points heading into election day.
Lopez Obrador’s attacks on the “mafia of power” have tapped the frustrations of voters sick of the two parties that have governed Mexico for almost a century: the Institutional Revolutionary Party and the National Action Party.
When the three other candidates attacked him during debates, he stayed above the fray, at one point whipping out a chart with the latest poll numbers by way of rebuttal. “I don’t want to brag, but I humbly submit to you the latest poll,” he said.
Lopez Obrador has emerged as the antigraft poster boy, vowing to lead by example. He said he would halve the presidential salary if elected, live in his modest home instead of the presidential residence and sell the presidential jet.
He’s clashed with the business community, who think he will pursue socialist policies. Seeking to ease their fears, he appointed market-friendly advisors and backpedalled on some proposals.
Many Mexicans are not quite sure what he represents, other than something new. That may be enough. – AFP