Mexico Opposition Leader Leaves Left-Wing Parties

Former presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador waves to supporters during a gathering at Zocalo Square in Mexico City, on Sept. 9. Lopez Obrador called the rally after refusing to accept the Aug. 31 result of the federal electoral tribunal that officially named Enrique Peña Nieto the winner of the July 1 election. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/GettyImages)

Mexican presidential runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador quit the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party and is focusing on his own political youth movement called Morena.

Lopez Obrador said he would still not recognize the victory of his rival, Enrique Peña Nieto, in the recent presidential elections, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

“In this new phase of my life, I am going to dedicate my imagination and work for the cause of transforming Mexico,” Lopez Obrador said, speaking to tens of thousands of supporters in Mexico City’s Zocalo Square according to EFE news agency.

He said that leaving Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, was on good terms and was “not a rupture.”

“I’m going to devote all my imagination and work to the cause of the transformation of Mexico. I will do it from the space Morena represents. I separated myself from the parties of the Progressive Movement,” he said, according to the EFE news agency.

The Morena movement, also known as the National Regeneration Movement, is not officially considered a political party in Mexico.

In the last election, Lopez Orbrador got 31.6 percent of the vote and Peña Nieto received 38.2 percent.