The former
mayor of Mexico City,
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, was the presidential candidate for the Coalition for the Good of All in the
2006 presidential elections. López Obrador's campaign relied on citizen's networks (redes ciudadanas) that focused on mobilizing the public to campaign. These results were later validated by the Federal Electoral Tribunal. However, the PRD claimed that there was
election fraud. The claims of election fraud have been rejected by the
Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF), which considered these "notoriously out of order" ("notoriamente improcedente") and certified
PAN's candidate
Felipe Calderón as the winner.
Post-election López Obrador then rallied his supporters to hold demonstrations in the capital, Mexico City. These demonstrations were organized by the PRD, whose stronghold is in Mexico City. The PRD had called for demonstrations and set up camps in the capital's main square, blocking one of its main avenues (
Paseo de la Reforma) for six weeks to demand a recount of all votes, which was not granted. The camps were later dismantled after confrontation with the Mexican Army became likely. On September 5, the
Federal Electoral Tribunal announced that there was not enough evidence of electoral fraud which legitimized Calderon as President. This caused López Obrador to maintain his campaign of civil disobedience and declared himself as "Legitimate President" in a "public open vote" (people in the main square raising their hands). López Obrador did not recognize the legitimacy of Calderón as president. The PRD was criticized for not complying with the democratic system that it had lauded and helped create. However, the PRD could not agree on whether they should move forward and cooperate with the current system and contribute to policy or take on an uncompromising stance in an attempt to overturn the current system. This split later trickled on to other things such as electoral and petroleum reforms where one part of the party wanted to cooperate while the other refused to out of allegiance to López Obrador. ==Electoral history==