It’s too early to congratulate Biden, says Mexican president

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says it is too early to congratulate Joe Biden, president-elect of the United States.

After securing more than the 270 required votes to win the presidency, leading American media organisations projected Biden as the next US president.

But President Donald Trump, who has refused to concede the election, filed multiple lawsuits to challenge Biden’s victory.

Speaking with reporters on Saturday, Obrador said he would wait for “all legal issues” in the US presidential election to be resolved before congratulating the winner.

“We don’t want to be imprudent. We don’t want to act lightly and we want to respect people’s self-determination and rights,” Obrador said.

“We have a very good relationship with the two candidates. President Trump has been very respectful with us and we have reached very good agreements, and we thank him because he has not interfered and has respected us. And the same goes for Biden.”

World leaders have been divided over Biden’s victory.

Canadian leader Justin Trudeau; Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin; Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari are among those who have congratulated Biden.

But President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China Xi Jinping have been silent on Biden’s victory.