Wednesday, July 04, 2018

Mexico: AMLO, Pena Nieto Meet to Discuss Transition, Recall Referendum
3 July 2018
Telesur

Lopez Obrador vows to improve lives for Mexicans and the country's global reputation by ending corruption.

Mexico's president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), met with the country's outgoing leader Tuesday, hours after the leftist said he would put his job on the line to a recall referendum half-way through his six-year term.

Lopez Obrador, who won a landslide victory in Sunday's election and takes office in December, meet with centrist President Enrique Pena Nieto at the presidential palace in the capital's colonial downtown district.

Lopez Obrador and Pena Nieto were due to discuss the 2019 budget, trade, and energy policy. The president-elect said he would hold a news conference after the meeting.

The former mayor of Mexico City won 53 percent of the vote Sunday, the largest margin for a presidential election since the early 1990s, giving him a strong mandate to make broad changes to policy at home and abroad.

Lopez Obrador discussed immigration, trade, and security with United States President Donald Trump in a phone call Monday. His pick as foreign minister, Hector Vasconcelos, said the call between the two leaders, conducted via translators, had provided a reset in strained relations between the two countries.

"It was very successful, characterized by absolute mutual respect," he told TV network Televisa, saying there was no date yet for the two men to meet.

Lopez Obrador, who shuns bodyguards, was surrounded by TV cameramen on motorbikes during his drive to the palace and arrived there to massive media scrum.

He said he sought to unite the country.

"I'm looking forward to conciliation to seek an organized transition for everyone," Lopez Obrador told reporters, who pushed and shoved in a bid to speak with him. "I don't want bodyguards ... we won't act in that way, but I also don't want to be squashed."

Lopez Obrador vows to improve lives for Mexicans and the country's global reputation by ending corruption, applying the law and reducing the wealth gap.

In a TV interview late Monday, he said he would hold a recall referendum after three years to ask the public whether it still had faith in his presidency.

"Just as they elected me, they'll have the chance to remove me, but I'm sure I'll win as there will be results," he said, reiterating a campaign promise.

Popular Consultations on National Issues

The 64-year-old has not given specific details of how the "popular consultation" would be carried out. Mexico's constitution does not mention recall referendums.

The head of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) has previously suggested he could put a series of economic reforms - which include oil, education and telecoms overhauls pushed through Congress by Pena Nieto - to public referendums.

In Monday's interview, Lopez Obrador also said he would not make any attempt to run for a second presidential term, which is currently prohibited by the law, and would require a constitutional change.

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