MEXICO CITY — For days before President Felipe Calderon's scheduled appearance Saturday at a joint session of Congress, opposing lawmakers argued over the stage directions of what used to be a routine bit of political theater.
Would Calderon deliver the annual state of the nation report in writing, or would he make a speech? How many of the 13 steps of the dais would he be allowed to climb? Or would he be kept out of the chambers altogether?
On Saturday, the president entered Congress and delivered his views -- in writing. Calderon made it to the top of the dais, but spoke for just 90 seconds. It was a small victory for the president (tempered by the fact that a third of the legislature boycotted his appearance).
"We won't accept an illegitimate president," said Leonel Cota, president of the Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, explaining why his entire caucus had left the chamber. "We won't tolerate one minute of Calderon's presence."
Members of the PRD and other leftist parties believe their candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, was cheated out of victory by Calderon's conservative National Action Party, or PAN, in the July 2006 presidential election.
The dispute over the vote, which Calderon won by less than a percentage point, has tainted Mexico's political culture ever since.
Last year, a scrum of wrestling legislators prevented outgoing President Vicente Fox from entering the chambers for his final state of the nation report; he too turned in written remarks.
Then, opposing legislators engaged in fisticuffs and shoving matches over control of the congressional dais in the days and hours before Calderon was inaugurated there on Dec. 1.
No punches were thrown Saturday.
"We've had a ceremony without any fighting or conflicts," analyst Benito Nacif said. "I think this is a step forward we should celebrate."
After days of private and public negotiations, leaders of the PAN and PRD agreed to an official ceremony that allowed both sides to save face.
Calderon complied with his constitutional obligation to attend the joint session of Congress, while PRD legislators were able to continue their public rejection of his rule.
"In the end, we were able to show ability to dialogue," PAN Sen. Santiago Creel said.
Calderon will address the Mexican people on television today, a day later than tradition dictates, before a handpicked audience at the National Palace.
