MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Nine out of ten Mexicans voting on Sunday in an unprecedented recall election engineered by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador backed him to stay in office.
Between 90.3% and 91.9% voters were predicted to have supported Lopez Obrador, a preliminary estimate from the National Electoral Institute (INE) showed on Sunday night.
Lopez Obrador hailed the referendum result as “historic”, and compared his tally favorably with the number of votes won by rivals he defeated to win the presidency, and in other elections.
“We don’t have a king in Mexico,” he said in a video address. “It’s a democracy, and the people are in charge.”
Lopez Obrador was the architect of the first so-called ‘recall referendum’ in modern Mexico, calling it vital to confirm his democratic mandate.
Opposition leaders had actively discouraged supporters from voting.
Since taking office in December 2018, Lopez Obrador’s successful roll-out of welfare programs and success to establish himself as a defender of the poor against a corrupt, wealthy elite has helped buttress his popularity.
Many Mexicans regard the folksy Lopez Obrador as a welcome departure from previous leaders often seen as aloof from the broader population in a society that remains highly unequal.
“I want the president to continue in power,” said one of them, Guillermina Gomez, after voting in the central state of Tlaxcala.
The 60-year-old homemaker said his welfare programs had allowed her grandchildren to enroll in high school, which her meager household income had kept out of the reach of her children.
“Thanks to him we’ve received benefits that no one else has given us.”
The referendum asked Mexicans if Lopez Obrador’s mandate should be revoked “due to loss of trust,” or he should conclude his term as scheduled on Sept. 30, 2024.