100,000 rally against Mexico poll results

MEXICO CITY (AFP) - About 100,000 people packed Mexico City's main square as Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, the left's presidential candidate, demanded an inquiry into last week's election which the ruling party officially won. Mr Cardenas told the gathering: 'We went to the election under protest and we do not know the real results.' He called on those in the crowd to document voting irregularities they might have witnessed to prove 'scandalous fraud' took place.

The Federal Electoral Institute said yesterday the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Ernesto Zedillo won 48.77 percent of the votes. If spoiled ballots are discounted, Mr Zedillo ends up with 50.18 percent of valid votes. The institute has yet to decide whether its offical results will include spoiled ballots or not. Either way, Mr Zedillo's winning share of the vote is the lowest since the PRI came to power in 1929.