[JURIST] Losing leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [campaign website, in Spanish; BBC profile] established a parallel government [press release, in Spanish] for Mexico Saturday representing what he called a "true, authentic republic" in the wake of a late-August electoral court rule certifying his defeat. Supporters of Lopez Obrador turned out for a symbolic vote [Reuters report] at a rally in Mexico City and with a show of hands "elected" him. Complete with its own cabinet, the parallel government plans to set up committees throughout the nation in support of Lopez Obrador's message and boycott major national and international companies that supported the campaign of presidential victor Felipe Calderon [campaign website, in Spanish; BBC profile].

Leftist supporters object to the official results of Mexico's July 2 presidential election [JURIST news archive] which gave Calderon victory by a margin of 0.6 percent. Lopez Obrador argued before the Federal Electoral Tribunal [official website, in Spanish] in late July that the election was marred by fraud [JURIST report], but the court rejected most of his challenges [JURIST report] last month on the grounds that there was no evidence of systematic fraud. AP has more.