Gore in no mood to concede defeat

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, NOV. 24. The Gore campaign says the last word on the Florida recount of votes in the U.S. presidential polls has not been said and that the Vice-President, Mr. Al Gore, will not concede the election even if Florida's Secretary of State, Ms. Katherine Harris, certifies the Texas Governor, Mr. George W. Bush, winner of the State's 25 electoral college votes on Sunday.

It took the defiant stance in response to a unanimous Florida Supreme Court ruling on the Thanksgiving Day yesterday refusing to order the Miami-Dade county to continue the handcount of ballots. ``The writ is denied without prejudice... No motion for hearing will be allowed,'' said all seven judges.

The Gore campaign told the court that counting in the county was being frustrated by a campaign of intimidation by Republicans.

Separately, lawyers for Mr. Gore have filed papers in the U.S. Supreme Court asking it not to intervene in the Florida recount as is being demanded by Mr. Bush. In a 29-page brief filed on Thursday, it has been argued that the petitions of the Texas Governor are ``partisan'' and ``intemperate'' and that any intervention will be contrary to the court's earlier decisions preserving the rights and sovereignty of the States.

In the aftermath of the Florida Supreme Court verdict, the Gore campaign has made it known that it will move court in Tallahassee to contest the Miami-Dade election results after the votes have been certified. The county is the largest in the State, with a chunk of Democratic supporters, where some 10,000 ballots have been disputed. Earlier this week, county officials changed their mind - for the fourth time - and said they were not going to continue the handcount as the Sunday deadline could not be met.

The decision to still pursue the legal route after Sunday's certification should not be surprising, senior Gore legal advisers say. ``We have been saying all along that we wanted a full and fair count and that's what we intend to see happen,'' said a senior adviser, Mr. Ron Klain.

The handcount in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties has trimmed the Texas Governor's lead to 713 votes. But the official tally still shows a 930-vote difference between Mr. Bush and Mr. Gore. In the Broward county, with all precincts and absentee ballots available, Mr. Gore has a net gain of 225 votes. Mr. Bush has also moved a State court to force 13 counties with a heavy military personnel concentration to reopen their overseas ballots.

The legal manoeuvrings of rival campaigns take place at a time when the Republican-dominated Legislature is threatening to enter the fray and have its way. Senior Republicans have openly said if the December 12 deadline is not met, the Legislature may be convened for an extraordinary session to choose its own slate of electors. ``... the responsibility falls on the Legislature to decide who those electors are going to be,'' says the House Speaker, Mr. Tom Feeny.

Yesterday, the President, Mr. Bill Clinton, said, ``there is a process under way. The courts will do what they're going to do and that's the way it ought to be,'' urging patience.

Meanwhile, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, Mr. Richard Cheney, is said to be recovering from a ``slight'' heart attack he suffered on Wednesday. According to a Bush campaign spokesman, the Texas Governor and Mr. Cheney had a good conversation and both were ``upbeat''.

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