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Kidicious
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Diety of Kidiverse
Mar 2003
time: 21:17
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Is there a thread on this yet? This is a big deal for the Western Hemisphere, but I didn't here anything about it in the mainstream news. This guy was probably going to win.
Lopez Obrador is taken out of 2006 Mexican presidential race
quote:
Lopez Obrador is taken out of 2006 Mexican presidential race
10:39 2005-04-08
Congress stripped Mexico City's leftist mayor of his immunity from prosecution Thursday, clearing the way for his arrest in a vote that could also block him from running in the 2006 presidential race, which he leads in the polls.
The House vote against Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador which came on the same day he declared his presidential candidacy could force him to stand trial on charges of ignoring a court order to stop construction of a road on contested private land.
If a judge approves federal prosecutors' request for Lopez Obrador's arrest, the mayor will be removed from office to stand trial. People facing criminal charges are barred from running for office under most interpretations of Mexican law. But if the court dismisses the case, Lopez Obrador would remain mayor and run for president.
Earlier in the day, the populist mayor told a rally of over 100,000 supporters in the capital's central plaza that he would turn himself in, go to jail, refuse to accept bail and later act as his own attorney in court, reports ABC News.
According to the New York Times, hundreds of thousands of people were gathered in Mexico City's central square throughout the day to protest the action, a rare proceeding known in Mexico as a "desafuero," in which Mayor AndrÈs Manuel LÑpez Obrador was stripped of his official immunity so he could stand trial in a minor land dispute.
In terms of political rights, the Mexican Constitution holds suspects guilty until proved innocent, so Mr. Lopez will be banned from politics until the end of a trial.
Legislators in the 500-member Chamber of Deputies began debating the charges about 10 a.m. in a scathing session that continued uninterrupted until the evening, when the vote was held. Of the 489 who attended the session, 360 favored lifting the immunity, 127 were opposed and there were 2 abstentions.
Political analysts said that the proceedings were a critical test in this country's transition to a full-fledged democracy that began just five years ago when Mexicans broke seven decades of single-party rule with the peaceful election of Vicente Fox, the first president to come from an opposition party.
The protests, which had largely ended by late Thursday, brought comparisons to the recent pro-democracy demonstrations in the Ukraine that helped lift Viktor A. Yuschenko to power. But while Mr. Lopez said support for him would grow, his adversaries seemed confident the protests would die out soon.
NR
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Thorgal
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Tarifa, Cádiz.
Jan 2002
time: 05:17
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Depends for who.
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Master Zen
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of naughty
Jan 2003
time: 23:17
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He definitely knew about it, but decided to go ahead with the project regardless. "AMLO" as we call him has a history of disregard for the law and he has frequently used his popularity to step over the law when he sees fit. In short, if he doesn't think the law helps, he ignores it.
So now he's taking a bit of his own medicine. 
Legally he could avoid jailtime and could have prevent this alltoghether, but he didn't for the simple reason he wants to boost his popularity even more by becoming a political martyr. He shot up 10% in the polls on that very day alone. He's doing everything possible to convince the country that this is one giant conspiracy by PRI-PAN and he's right, it is. PRI-PAN talk about legality and institutions and talk about how this is an example but its complete bullshit as countless other acts of corruption and inefficiency go unpunished.
So, in short, yes, he is guilty of an illegal expropriation, yes, he legally could have avoided all these hastles, but he's chosing not to so he can get an even bigger lead in the polls. The 2006 elections will be nasty, I tell you, really nasty. What's clear to me is that we are still far from what a democracy really is when crap like this is necessary to try and knock someone out of the race and not doing it the way it's supposed to be done: by presenting a better political alternative with action, proposals and imagination.
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Sikander
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Boulder, Colorado, United Snakes of America
Jan 2000
time: 22:17
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quote:
Originally posted by Master Zen
He definitely knew about it, but decided to go ahead with the project regardless. "AMLO" as we call him has a history of disregard for the law and he has frequently used his popularity to step over the law when he sees fit. In short, if he doesn't think the law helps, he ignores it.
So now he's taking a bit of his own medicine.
Legally he could avoid jailtime and could have prevent this alltoghether, but he didn't for the simple reason he wants to boost his popularity even more by becoming a political martyr. He shot up 10% in the polls on that very day alone. He's doing everything possible to convince the country that this is one giant conspiracy by PRI-PAN and he's right, it is. PRI-PAN talk about legality and institutions and talk about how this is an example but its complete bullshit as countless other acts of corruption and inefficiency go unpunished.
So, in short, yes, he is guilty of an illegal expropriation, yes, he legally could have avoided all these hastles, but he's chosing not to so he can get an even bigger lead in the polls. The 2006 elections will be nasty, I tell you, really nasty. What's clear to me is that we are still far from what a democracy really is when crap like this is necessary to try and knock someone out of the race and not doing it the way it's supposed to be done: by presenting a better political alternative with action, proposals and imagination. |
 Master Zen for Dictator of Mexico!
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Master Zen
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of naughty
Jan 2003
time: 23:17
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quote:
Originally posted by Oerdin
The PRI and their allies in PAN win. Lopez Obrador was the leading non-PRI candidate to follow Fox as President. Still, I don't think he was Presidential material because he didso frequently over look the rules when it suited him. He created a kind of circus complete with exotic animals in Mexico City's main square and when a lynch mob murder a suspected theif Obrador said that was a traditional expression of Mexican village justice which shouldn't be fought against. 
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The main square frequently is used for free concerts and shows on the weekends. This is nothing new with his adminstration and most people support it. Regarding the lynch mob incident, the sad thing is that if the authorities and the law is useless, then sometimes you have to take things into your own hands. I know I would if I were in their place. I wish that it wasn't so and that people who commit crimes would get arrested, tried and punished under a legal system which is effective, fair and transparent. But that is not the case here.
quote:
Civilized countries decide guilt or innocences in courts not by lynch mobs and Lopez Obrador shouldn't have played popular politics with such a fundimental issue. Then there's the case of follow court orders concerning the construction of a road; I'm not sure of the particulars but I am sure that every democracy is based upon the rule of law so Lopez Obrador should have listened to the court and followed the legal process. |
Civilized countries also apply the law to everyone regardless of the political party they're in which is why all this talk of AMLO not being above the law is bullshit.
A few months ago a major PAN member was awarded an illegal contract for building a highway with the state governor as his accomplice. Do you think he was charged or stripped of his immunity when millions of tax dollars were swindled? Nope.
A few days ago an advisor to the President who had links with the drug cartels was released by a judge, the same judge who had previously ordered the release of 16 members of the drug cartel who this fellow was linked to. Why isn't this guy rotting in jail?
About a year ago, a member of one of the smaller parties (but still influential since they usually ally with one of the big parties like political whores) was caught and filmed accepting a million-dollar bribe for concessions on Acapulco hotels. Yet he still is the leader of the party and didn't set a foot in jail.
As you can see, the law applies insofar as there's a political interest behind it. Which is why the whole issue with AMLO pisses me off. Not because I think he's innocent but because what he did was nothing compared to what other people do and where the law is noticeably absent. And like I said, this is not the way to remove the main candidate for the presidency. I would have liked to see the other two parties win in a fair fight where the election was based on ideas, projects and proposals, not dirty legal tricks.
-MZ
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11-04-2005 22:31
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