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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2005 
President Fox Defends Record In Annual Address
 Associated Press
| | President Vicente Fox is making a final pitch for his vision of free-speaking democracy in Mexico – and hoping political rivals will sit still long enough for him to say it. |
Mexico City - President Vicente Fox is making a final pitch for his vision of free-speaking democracy in Mexico - and hoping political rivals will sit still long enough for him to say it.
Giving his last state of the nation address to Congress before July 2 elections to replace him, Fox is expected to defend his nearly five years in office and try to persuade an electorate increasingly focused on the presidential campaign to not lose sight of economic and democratic advances.
But he's likely to face criticism. In past years, lawmakers have openly heckled him and even forced him to interrupt his speech - a practice that began during similar addresses by earlier presidents.
This year, Fox's spokesman Ruben Aguilar suggested that one opposition leader look up the word "civilized" in the dictionary and warned Wednesday against behavior that could be "damaging to democracy."
"This is really Fox's last chance to make his pitch, speak his piece," said political analyst Federico Estevez, a political scientist at Mexico City's ITAM university. "And after this he'll just be the guy that's there. ... but everything else will have shifted."
The leftist former mayor of Mexico City, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has emerged as a front-runner in the 2006 race, loved by millions for his government pension programs and public works projects, and criticized by rivals for leaving the city deep in debt.
Fox's historic victory in July 2000 ended 71 years of one-party rule. He is prohibited from seeking a second term in 2006.
Yet many Mexicans feel he didn't fulfill his exuberant campaign promises, notably economic growth of 7 percent a year. An Ipsos poll of 1,040 people conducted from Aug. 18 to 23 found 51 percent of Mexicans of voting age approved of Fox's performance, about the same as a year earlier. About 26 percent disapproved of his work. The poll had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
Fox has been trying to boost interest in his speech by broadcasting reminders of Mexico's authoritarian political past in a series of television and radio spots.
Fox has seen his reform proposals on energy, labor and justice founder in an opposition-dominated Congress. But the legislature's independence also is a point of pride for Fox - proof he let Mexico develop as a democracy.
The president's fifth address, or "informe," once was a time to recite government accomplishments before the ruling party tapped a successor.
The once-sleek ritual has often been interrupted by the shouts, chants and banners of dissident congressmen since 1988, when had been passions were roused by a controversial election.
Fox himself is closely watching the 2006 presidential race, but he has promised repeatedly not to interfere, as candidates from his own party seek to distance themselves from the president's style.
Cabinet officials said Fox would remind Mexicans on Thursday that he assumed the presidency without the economic crisis that accompanied other presidential transitions, and that he plans to help his replacement do the same.
He also will talk about new freedom of information laws designed to give the public access to government dealings and stop corruption.
Fox has said he hopes to be remembered for a housing construction boom during his term, fueled by a strong banking sector, low interest rates and increased access to credit.
It's unclear whether he will discuss violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, which has prompted the U.S. State Department to caution American travelers.
On the Net: President Vicente Fox: http://envivo.presidencia.gob.mx/?NLangen |
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