The winner of Mexico's contested presidential election, conservative Felipe Calderon, urged calm today ahead of street protests led by his leftist rival, who has cried fraud.
Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has called his supporters from around the country to congregate in the capital later this week to back his claim that the vote count was manipulated in favor of ruling party candidate Calderon. A huge protest march is set for Sunday in Mexico City.
"I call on all the political players to behave with strict adherence to our laws and institutions and on the people to avoid any kind of provocation," Mr Calderon told journalists.
Lopez Obrador, a former mayor of Mexico City, rallied more than 100,000 people in the capital's Zocalo square last weekend to protest what he said was fraud in the election, which Mr Calderon won by less than a percentage point.
That rally was peaceful and the leftist has persistently said his protests will not be violent. He has asked a special electoral court to change the election result.
A Lopez Obrador aide warned today of a serious crisis if the court does not pay heed to his challenges. "We are faced with the most serious political problem the country has had in recent years and if it is not resolved properly, it is going to create a crisis of grave proportions," advisor Manuel Camacho Solis said.
The electoral court, made up of seven magistrates, must rule on Lopez Obrador's objections to the election result by Aug. 31 and declare an election winner by September 6th.
The next president takes over from President Vicente Fox, from Calderon's party, on December 1st.