Mexico City ? Felipe Calderon, a free-trade booster who was declared the winner of Mexico’s disputed presidential election last week, said Tuesday that he would accept a partial recount but that a complete recount would be “absurd” and illegal.

Calderon’s main opponent, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has alleged widespread election fraud during massive street protests and has asked Mexico’s special electoral court to order a recount of votes cast in all 130,000 polling stations. In his first international media interview since being declared winner, Calderon said Tuesday that he will abide by the decision of the court, even if it orders a recount of as many as 50,000 polling places.