A Mexican politician whose candidacy was canceled by regulatory authorities threatened to block his state’s elections on Sunday unless he was allowed to run, the Associated Press reports.
Félix Salgado is committed to the governorship of the Mexican state of Guerrero. He was charged with rape by two women. His party, the Morena party which is the same as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, allowed him to continue his race.
However, the election regulators ordered in late March that Salgado should be taken off the ballot because the AP reports had made no mention of the campaign spending. The Mexican electoral court last week ordered the Federal Electoral Institute (FEI) to reconsider their decision.
Salgado, the former mayor of the seaside town of Acapulco, has not personally addressed the rape allegations against him, the AP reports, although his attorney has denied them. He has not been charged.
López Obrador defended Salgado and raised objections to his candidacy “an attack on democracy”.
“If we are on the ballot, there will be elections,” Salgado told supporters in Guerrero after leading a caravan of protesters to the FEI office in Mexico City on Sunday.
“If there are no elections, there will be no elections,” said Salgado.
The AP notes that Salgado is not making an empty threat. Guerrero is a controversial state overrun with violence and drug gangs, and many elections have been disrupted before. Past governors have been forced to resign before their term of office ended. Salgado had previously been filmed confronting the police in 2000.
State and federal midterm elections will take place in Mexico on June 6.