Mexico's political future remains uncertain after court declares Calderon next president

Protesters still occupy Mexico City streets. The country is still divided along class lines. Two candidates each still claim to be the next president.

Photo: Mexico's political future remains uncertain after court declares Calderon next president

A ruling by the Federal Electoral Tribunal on Tuesday ended two months of uncertainty over the winner of the July 2 elections but did little to clear up Mexico's political future.

In a way, it couldn't have. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the leftist who claims fraud robbed him of victory, had already said the court was corrupt and vowed to run his own government from the streets.

The key question is how many supporters Lopez Obrador has left, and how far they are willing to go to defend his cause.

Certainly, his numbers are dwindling. While more than 14.6 million Mexicans voted for the leftist candidate, only a few thousand man the protest camps that line Mexico City's main Zocalo plaza and its elegant Reforma avenue. Many of the protest tents erected two months ago remain empty.

Many of Lopez Obrador's supporters were turned off when protesters barged in on a Mass being celebrated at Mexico City's Cathedral. Others felt he went too far when lawmakers from his party seized Congress and kept President Vicente Fox from delivering his annual state-of-the-nation address.

The camps themselves, which have snarled traffic and cost businesses an estimated 4 billion pesos (US$369 million; Ђ287 million) in lost revenues, have alienated other supporters. In a recent poll by the newspaper Reforma, 75 percent opposed the protest camps.

And despite Lopez Obrador's claims that the tribunal is crooked, only 8 percent of respondents said they have no confidence in the court. Another 35 percent said they had some confidence, while a full 57 percent said they have a lot of confidence in the electoral tribunal, reports AP.