Brawl before Mexican inauguration
Calderon takes unusual steps in wake of disputed election
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:55 a.m. ET Dec 1, 2006

MEXICO CITY - Opposition lawmakers threw punches and chairs and tried to block the doors of the congressional chamber Friday just an hour before incoming President Felipe Calderon was to take the oath of office there.

Mexicans nationwide saw the spectacle on live television. Ruling party lawmakers, chanting "Mexico wants peace," seized the speaker's platform where Calderon was supposed to appear, while leftist opponents blocked most of the chamber's doors.

Mexico's Constitution calls for Calderon to take the oath of office before Congress, and the leftists argued that he cannot become president without that formality.

Anticipating the standoff, the conservative Calderon took control of the presidential residence early Friday in an unusual midnight ceremony with outgoing President Vicente Fox, swearing in part of his Cabinet. In that closed-door ceremony, broadcast live from Los Pinos, Fox handed the presidential sash to a military cadet as his term ended at midnight.

That left experts on Mexico's constitution puzzled over whether Mexico had a president or not Friday morning.

Appeal for unity
In the midnight broadcast, Calderon called on Mexicans to leave behind the divisions that have dogged him and the country since the disputed July 2 elections.

"I have received the presidential offices from President Vicente Fox, the start of the process of taking possession of the presidency," Calderon said. "Later, I will appear before Congress to take the constitutional oath."

Calderon called on lawmakers to respect the constitutional process. “I invite you to build a better, different Mexico, a winning Mexico,” he said.

He praised Fox for “honesty, loyalty and working for the good of Mexico.”

The first opposition candidate to hold the presidency in Mexico, Fox marked his last evening in office with a visit to Mexico City’s Basilica of Guadalupe, one of the holiest sites for Mexico’s Roman Catholics, the same place he visited six years ago before taking office.

Parallel government set up
The leftist Democratic Revolution Party, whose candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, narrowly lost the presidency to Calderon, massed thousands of supporters nearby in the capital's main Zocalo plaza, and thousands of riot police surrounded Congress to block them from moving in.

Lopez Obrador, refusing to recognize Calderon's victory, has set up a parallel government of sorts and declared himself "legitimate president" of Mexico

Lawmakers of Calderon’s conservative National Action Party control a narrow strip of the podium just wide enough to allow Calderon to walk in, face the floor of Congress and take the oath.

Because Calderon will be just a few feet from his bitter adversaries — who may unleash a storm of jeers — it appeared unlikely that visiting foreign dignitaries including former President Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would be invited to attend.

Instead, Calderon’s office announced plans for a separate ceremony at the heavily guarded National Auditorium on the other side of Mexico City.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: [link]
© 2006 MSNBC.com