M A I N   N E W S

Bush begins to act as President
Gore files lawsuits
From Vasantha Arora

WASHINGTON, Nov 27 — Republican George W. Bush proclaimed himself as the president-elect of the United States shortly after Florida certified him Sunday night as winner of the presidential election from the state, even as lawyers for Democratic candidate Al Gore filed lawsuits today contesting the official presidential election result in Florida.

In a brief public appearance in Austin, the capital of Texas, Bush declared that he and his running mate Dick Cheney would “undertake the responsibility of preparing to serve as America’s next president and vice president” and asked Gore to gracefully concede defeat instead of mounting a legal challenge.

Apparently, in his capacity as President-elect, Bush made two crucial appointments — Cheney as head of his transition team with a direction to open an office in Washington to take over from the eight-year-old Clinton administration and Andrew Card, one of his top aides, to serve as his chief of staff.

Meanwhile, the New York Times quoted a spokesman for the General Services Administration here as saying that it would not release money and office space set aside for the presidential transition until the court disputes are resolved.

Still last night’s announcement was a powerful turning point for both candidates, one that Gore had sought desperately to avoid. In all the counts and recounts in Florida since November 7, there was never a moment when Gore held a statewide lead, said the daily.

Later, Gore Attorney Dexter Douglass filed the suits with the Leon County circuit court here shortly after 1715 GMT (2245 IST).

Though Gore promised to address the nation at noon on Monday instead of reacting to the development, his running mate, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, promptly denounced “what by any reasonable standard is an incomplete and inaccurate count.”

Florida officials had left the Gore campaign “no choice but to contest their actions,” he remarked within minutes of the Tallahassee certification. “What is at stake here is nothing less than every American’s simple sacred right to vote,” Lieberman said.

Earlier, in Tallahassee, the capital of Florida, Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who is in charge of the election, made the formal certification of vote totals two hours after the deadline mandated by the Florida Supreme Court for manual vote counting expired.

Harris said Bush had carried the state by 2,912,790 votes to Gore’s 2,912,253 votes — a margin of 537 votes out of the nearly six million cast. “I hereby declare George W. Bush the winner of Florida’s 25  electoral votes,” Harris said amidst cheers inside and outside the state meeting room where she and two other members of the elections board signed certification papers. The 25 electoral votes were crucial in determining the winner in the stalemated election.

Two hours after the formal announcement, Bush claimed victory for himself, urging Gore to reconsider his planned court challenge, as it was “not the best route for America.” “We cannot change yesterday, but we share a responsibility for tomorrow. Time runs short and we have a lot of work to do,” he said.

Top Republican leaders have begun exerting public pressure on a defiant Gore to concede. Former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker said: “At some point, there must be closure; at some point, the law must prevail and the lawyers must go home. We have reached that point. It is time to honour the will of the people.”

According to all indications, the “formal certification” is not the end of the election controversy. Following the official certification of the vote, each side has 10 days to contest the results of the election. The Gore campaign already has said it will contest the fact that Miami-Dade chose not to complete a manual recount. The results in a number of other counties are likely to be contested.

Bush also directly appealed to U.S. President Bill Clinton to set in motion the process of handing over power, which culminates on January 20, the date on which the incumbent retires and his successor formally takes over at a Capitol Hill swearing-in ceremony.

In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear petitions from both sides on December 1. The next critical deadline is December 12, the date by which the state must choose its presidential electors. Republicans who control the Florida legislature have threatened to exercise their authority to appoint electors if the outcome isn’t resolved quickly. — IANS