Mexico City – An unprecedented protest by leftist lawmakers that forced President Vicente Fox to become the first Mexican leader to abandon his state of the nation speech is fueling fears the July 2 electoral dispute is spiraling out of control.
The bold move has set the stage for an escalating battle between a president resistant to intervene in the growing national political crisis and a rabble-rousing leftist candidate who has thumbed his nose at the country’s democratic institutions and vowed to govern Mexico from the streets.
It also raises the question of how effective Fox’s successor, who takes office Dec. 1, will be after his administration has tolerated supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador taking over the capital.
Lopez Obrador has called on supporters to halt celebrations during the nation’s most important holiday, Independence Day, on Sept. 16. During the festivities, soldiers traditionally march to the capital’s central plaza, the Zocalo, where Lopez Obrador has been sleeping in a protest tent for the past two months.
With the Federal Electoral Tribunal likely to declare ruling- party candidate Felipe Calderon president-elect this week, many are wondering what protesters will do next.
“If Congress approves a social program that helps the mass of Mexican people, no one will remember whether Calderon won by 250,000 votes or 25 million votes,” said a Mexico expert at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. “You create your own mandate.”
