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Leftists prevent speech by Fox

The Mexican president instead gives his last state-of-the-nation address on TV as tensions heighten.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 2, 2006

MEXICO CITY - President Vicente Fox was forced to forgo his final state-of-the-nation address Friday after leftist lawmakers stormed the stage of Congress to protest disputed July 2 elections.

Instead, he gave his speech on television and called on Mexico to mend deep divisions that he said threaten the nation's newfound democracy.

It was the first time in modern Mexican history a president hasn't given the annual address to Congress. Fox arrived at the door of the Legislative Palace, handed in a written copy - as the Constitution requires - and announced over the loudspeaker that he wouldn't appear before lawmakers. He did not enter the chambers, and Congress was adjourned.

Appearing on television later as thousands of protesters occupied Mexico City's center, Fox said the nation "requires harmony, not anarchy."

"Whoever attacks our laws and institutions also attacks our history and Mexico," he said, a thinly veiled reference to leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The opposition lawmakers took over the stage in Congress shortly before Fox arrived, shouting "Vote by Vote" - a rallying cry for Lopez Obrador's bid for a recount in the July 2 election.

The former Mexico City mayor says Fox robbed him of his victory, using fraud and backroom deals. The standoff came six days before the top electoral court must declare a president-elect or annul the vote.

[Last modified September 2, 2006, 01:19:59]